France’s Parliament passes tougher restrictions on the unvaccinated.

[maestrob]

COMMENT: In this, France has got it right.

More than a week after President Emmanuel Macron of France shocked his nation by using a vulgarity to urge the unvaccinated to get their coronavirus shots, Parliament passed a law that would make proof of vaccination a requirement to eat in restaurants, attend sporting events and enter public venues.

The measure tightens France’s health pass system by largely removing the option to show proof of a recent negative test instead of vaccination status.

The National Assembly approved the law on Sunday by a vote of 215 to 58, according to The Associated Press. It is expected to take effect in the coming days. More than 90 percent of French citizens age 12 and older have received at least two shots, according to government figures. Children under 16 are exempt from the pass system.

A week earlier, Mr. Macron said, “The unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off,” using a French word that is more vulgar. He explained that a new and reinforced vaccine pass would make it impossible for the unvaccinated to go to restaurants and cafes, or the theater and cinemas. He made the comment just three months before presidential elections, trying to capitalize on the growing public anger against the unvaccinated.

Their recalcitrance, as well as a surge in cases in France, is threatening to undermine Mr. Macron’s success so far in tackling the pandemic.

France is averaging about 297,000 coronavirus cases a day, according to a New York Times database, driven by a surge of the Omicron variant across Europe. That’s an 89 percent jump over two weeks.

The vaccination law comes as France has ruled out lockdowns, curfews or closures, unlike some other European nations. France has bet that high vaccine and booster coverage, along with earlier restrictions it put in place, will be enough to keep the coronavirus variant manageable.

— Juston Jones

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/17 ... cine-tests