The very controversial vaccine pass, a device put in place by the French government to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, came into force on Monday.
The vaccination pass thus replaces the “health pass” and becomes compulsory for people over 16 wishing to go to a restaurant or take the train for interregional travel.
Definitively adopted on January 16 by Parliament after several weeks of debate, its entry into force comes after the green light on Friday from the Constitutional Council, which had been seized by around sixty opposition parliamentarians who denounced a device undermining the fundamental freedoms and which had not proven its effectiveness in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Council validated most of the provisions of the bill, with the exception of the possibility of requiring a health pass during political meetings.
From this Monday, for those over 16 years old, it is now necessary to justify a vaccination status against Covid-19 in order to have access to leisure activities, restaurants and bars (except collective catering), fairs or interregional public transport (planes , trains, coaches).
A negative test is no longer sufficient except to access health facilities and services.
By unveiling last Thursday the timetable for the “gradual lifting” of the restrictive measures taken to contain the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the “vaccination pass” system could be lifted, depending on hospital pressure.
On Saturday, new demonstrations against this device were organized in several cities in France, bringing together thousands of people, particularly in Paris.
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