SHARE
COPY LINK

EMMANUEL MACRON

Macron says lockdown for the unvaccinated ‘not necessary in France’

President Emmanuel Macron said France would not impose a lockdown on the unvaccinated like the one seen in Austria, but he didn't rule out expanding the booster dose programme to the general population.

French President Emmanuel Macron sitting in a chair. He has said that a lockdown for the unvaccinated is not necessary in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that a lockdown for the unvaccinated is not necessary in France. (Photo by Thibault Camus / POOL / AFP)

In an interview published on Thursday by La Voix du Nord, Macron said that France would not force the unvaccinated into isolation. 

“Countries which have placed unvaccinated people into lockdown are those which did not implement a [health] pass. This measure [a lockdown for the unvaccinated] is therefore not necessary in France,” he said. 

Austria recently made headlines by forcing the unvaccinated into lockdown. Germany has also announced severe restrictions on the unvaccinated population. France is faring better than these countries and many other EU nations, when it comes to infection rates.

But Macron has said that the country should not not get complacent and he urged. the public to help persuade those not inoculated to get the jab.

READ ALSO How France’s Covid vaccine booster campaign compares to the rest of Europe

“We must all be ambassadors of vaccination. I can see that making public speeches can only go so far. Help me convince the people who are reticent and who remain closed off in isolated defiance.”

The French president did not rule out making booster doses available for the general population. It is currently available for the following groups:

  • The over 65s
  • People suffering from a medical condition that puts you at higher risk from Covid. This includes conditions like obesity, diabetes or asthma, you can find full details here 
  • Health workers or domestic carers
  • People in close contact of someone who is immunodeficient
  • People who have had the single-dose Johnson a Johnson (Janssen) vaccine

From December 1st, 2021, anyone aged 50 to 64, who had their most recent dose of Covid-19 vaccine at least six months previously can also get a booster dose. Appointments for vaccinations in December are open on medical platforms including Doctolib. 

READ ALSO France to deactivate health pass for over-65s who don’t get vaccine booster

From mid-December, health passes will begin to be deactivated for over 65s who are eligible for a booster shot but have not taken up the offer.

Macron suggested that making booster doses available for the general population would depend on scientific advice. 

“For the immunosuppressed and old people, we know that the risk-benefit balance is positive. If it becomes clear that a third dose is effective and necessary for the rest of the public, we will obviously integrate this into our health pass system,” he said. 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

COVID-19 VACCINES

Italy’s constitutional court upholds Covid vaccine mandate as fines kick in

Judges on Thursday dismissed legal challenges to Italy's vaccine mandate as "inadmissible” and “unfounded”, as 1.9 million people face fines for refusing the jab.

Italy's constitutional court upholds Covid vaccine mandate as fines kick in

Judges were asked this week to determine whether or not vaccine mandates introduced by the previous government during the pandemic – which applied to healthcare and school staff as well as over-50s – breached the fundamental rights set out by Italy’s constitution.

Italy became the first country in Europe to make it obligatory for healthcare workers to be vaccinated, ruling in 2021 that they must have the jab or be transferred to other roles or suspended without pay.

The Constitutional Court upheld the law in a ruling published on Thursday, saying it considered the government’s requirement for healthcare personnel to be vaccinated during the pandemic period neither unreasonable nor disproportionate.

Judges ruled other questions around the issue as inadmissible “for procedural reasons”, according to a court statement published on Thursday.

This was the first time the Italian Constitutional Court had ruled on the issue, after several regional courts previously dismissed challenges to the vaccine obligation on constitutional grounds.

A patient being administered a Covid jab.

Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP

One Lazio regional administrative court ruled in March 2022 that the question of constitutional compatibility was “manifestly unfounded”.

Such appeals usually centre on the question of whether the vaccine requirement can be justified in order to protect the ‘right to health’ as enshrined in the Italian Constitution.

READ ALSO: Italy allows suspended anti-vax doctors to return to work

Meanwhile, fines kicked in from Thursday, December 1st, for almost two million people in Italy who were required to get vaccinated under the mandate but refused.

This includes teachers, law enforcement and healthcare workers, and the over 50s, who face fines of 100 euros each under rules introduced in 2021.

Thursday was the deadline to justify non-compliance with the vaccination mandate due to health reasons, such as having contracted Covid during that period.

Italy’s health minister on Friday however appeared to suggest that the new government may choose not to enforce the fines.

“It could cost more for the state to collect the fines” than the resulting income, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci told Radio Rai 1.

He went on to say that it was a matter for the Economy and Finance Ministry, but suggested that the government was drawing up an amendment to the existing law.

READ ALSO: Covid vaccines halved Italy’s death toll, study finds

The League, one of the parties which comprises the new hard-right government, is pushing for fines for over-50s to be postponed until June 30th 2023.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had promised a clear break with her predecessor’s health policies, after her Brothers of Italy party railed against the way Mario Draghi’s government handled the pandemic in 2021 when it was in opposition.

At the end of October, shortly after taking office, the new government allowed doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to return to work earlier than planned after being suspended for refusing the Covid vaccine.

There has been uncertainty about the new government’s stance after the deputy health minister in November cast doubt on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, saying he was “not for or against” vaccination.

Italy’s health ministry continues to advise people in at-risk groups to get a booster jab this winter, and this week stressed in social media posts that vaccination against Covid-19 and seasonal flu remained “the most effective way to protect ourselves and our loved ones, especially the elderly and frail”.

SHOW COMMENTS