France has decided to extend the French “health passport” that covers activities such as accessing restaurants and cafes, taking long train trips and visiting hospitals, and has come into effect after protests over the weekend.
According to the Guardian, starting July 21, a digital certificate will be required for anyone who goes to the cinema, theater or museum. The government has announced that there will be a one-week grace period for customers and businesses to implement the new rules before imposing fines on those who do not comply.
Official data indicated that more than 237,000 people demonstrated across France over the weekend against the implementation of the measures, arguing that the “health card” violated their civil liberties.
In turn, the Minister of Health, Olivier Veran, said that the measure would help prevent the adoption of other measures that would reduce the freedom of the population, such as a curfew. Ferran explained that the rules will be in place by November at the earliest. “It is a way of motivating people to get vaccinated,” the French health minister admitted.
Ferrand said France is on track to meet its goal of vaccinating at least 50 million people with at least one dose by the end of the month, which represents 85% of the eligible population.
When asked about the protests, the minister said he regretted the attention given to those who are “anti-science and anti-state”. No matter how many protesters there are, it will be fewer than the number of French people being vaccinated. They represented twice as much on Saturday,” Ferran explained.
