On Sunday evening, the French National Assembly adopted a law which will transform the health pass into a stricter vaccine pass in a bid to curb the country’s surging COVID-19 cases.
The National Assembly adopted the law by a vote of 215 for and 58 against and after debates and discussions during the past two weeks. The French government hopes to adopt the law as soon as possible after the approval of the Constitutional Council.
Under the new law, negative COVID-19 tests will no longer be valid to gain access to public venues. Bars, restaurants and cafes are allowed to verify the identity of vaccine pass holders when in doubt.
The vaccine pass concerns people over the age of 16. Children between the ages of 12 to 15 are not obliged to have a vaccine pass but must present a health pass.
The decision adopted by the French authorities, however, has not satisfied everyone. Rejecting the “chaos caused by the management of the epidemiological crisis,” eight teachers’ unions called for a national strike for January 20 in all institutions of the educational system.
“This week’s mobilizations should lead to a massive strike on January 27 as part of an inter-professional call, which will also include private sector employees and other public officials, who face austerity measures from employers and the government,” FranceInfo reported.
On Thursday, the Health Ministry announced that at least 600,000 people would lose their health pass on Jan. 15 as they have not received their booster shot. France reported on Thursday 305,322 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
