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COVID-19 VACCINES

More than 100,000 protest Macron’s plan to ‘piss off the unvaccinated’

More than 100,000 people across France protested on Saturday over what they say are government plans to further restrict the rights of the unvaccinated.

More than 100,000 protest Macron's plan to 'piss off the unvaccinated'
Demonstrators hold a banner reading " The youth piss off the vaccine front " during a protest against the health pass on Saturday. Photo: Christophe Archambault/AFP

The protest came only days after French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to “piss off” those refusing the jab.

The turnout was four times higher than the numbers who answered the December 18 call to protest, when 25,500 people marched across the country, according to government estimates.

The protests oppose a planned law that will require individuals to prove they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus before they can eat out, travel on inter-city trains or attend cultural events.

On Thursday, France’s lower house of parliament passed the controversial bill in a first reading. The government has said it expects the new requirements to be implemented by January 15, although lawmakers in the Senate could now delay the process.

About 18,000 protesters gathered in Paris. Photo: Christophe Archambault/AFP

Interior ministry officials said 105,200 people participated in Saturday’s protests across France, 18,000 of them in the capital Paris, where police reported 10 arrests and three officers slightly injured. Elsewhere there were 24 arrests and seven police officers lightly injured according to the ministry.

Among the larger demonstrations, around 6,000 demonstrators turned out in Toulon, while in Montpellier police used teargas during clashes with protesters.

READ ALSO: 

France recorded 303,669 new coronavirus cases on Saturday amid mounting pressure on hospitals.

The Paris protesters, many of them unmasked, braved the cold and rain brandishing placards emblazoned with the word “truth” and “No to vaccine passes”.

Others took aim at Macron, using the same coarse language he employed in his attack on people holding out against vaccination earlier in the week.

Macron said Friday that he fully stands by controversial remarks he made on Tuesday, when he vowed to “piss off” people not vaccinated against Covid-19 until they accept shots.

The earthy language and uncompromising approach provoked uproar in French media and from opponents.

Member comments

  1. The Macron obsession with vaccinations has now reached ludicrous levels. Last Sunday the ministry of health gave written instruction that vaccinated but Covid infected healthcare workers can carry on working in French hospitals. So, now we have the crazy situation where unvaccinated , uninfected healthcare workers are suspended whilst vaccinated, infected workers carry on working. Is this nuts or what ?

      1. Try looking up LBC and The Independent and a host of others . Hard to believe it’s not circulating in the French media. The only restrictions quoted by the ministry, is that their symptoms should not be too severe and they should minimise contact with co-workers and patients.

        1. I read French media regarding French matters – you should try it. Most of the British ones tend to carer to the British anti-French mentality and present a very twisted picture of reality.

          I did find related information on franceinfo – however, unsurprisingly, it is not what you painted it to be. It is a part of emergency plans for Omicron wave adopted by the French government, where such staff might be allowed to work if:
          – huge numbers of healthcare workers (in the region of 50%) are off work because of COVID
          – and only in specific locations

          As of now, this haven’t happened yet.

          1. According to AP it’s rolling out this week. BTW , first time I’ve heard that The Independent is ‘anti-French’. Seems you have a bad case of ‘shoot the messenger’.

          2. The regulation is “rolling out” – not the actual use of sick workers. That would happen (or not) when it is needed.

          3. The regulation being rolled out next week is an exemption to self-isolation requirements for healthcare workers . It will not be employed uniformly but will empower individual hospitals to make the decision for themselves. The 50% of staff absent you quoted is the criteria that Marseilles hospital will use. Why the Government prefers to retain vaccinated, Covid infected staff whilst suspending unvaccinated, uninfected staff will no doubt remain a mystery.

          4. Keep your nose out of French affairs that are designed to protect French citizens. If you are not prepared to abide by your host country’s rules, go back to your plaque island. Try reading some decent French papers for a change, you might learn something to your advantage. Hang on though, they are in French.

          5. Unless, Boggy, French citizens are anatomically different from everyone else, explain how this instruction /exemption is protective of their health. You seem, however, to be intellectually incapable of addressing the issue in any of your posts so why do you bother ? Were you a bit ‘slow’ at school ?

          6. Why are you so rude?

            You obviously don’t like the French government helping their citizens, perhaps you’d be happier as the previous poster mentioned returning to your preferred home country.

          7. I would love it, Harley, if the French Govt were to help their citizens. So would millions of French citizens. Like Boggy, of course, you confuse Government with country. You might have left all your critical faculties at Dover but that’s not the case , fortunately, for most. As for being rude, I think if you look at the posts in the order they were posted you’ll find that ‘being rude’ is not only Boggy’s default position but his only reason for posting.

          8. I think you are confusing country and governments roles in protecting their citizens, and looking at your other posts, rude is most definitely your raison d’être.

            Do not bother to reply, I really am not interested in your “British” opinion, people like yourself was one of the many reasons I left to find a much better place to live.

          9. Governments come and go. If you support them blindly, you’ll end up going dizzy from all the somersaulting. By the way , my posting on the Govt exemption to allow Covid infected doctors and nurses to carry on working was not a ‘British’ opinion, just an opinion. You and boggy should try engaging with the subject or don’t bother posting.

          10. Read more intelligent journals than this blog and the Daily Mail and you never know even you might learn something But one doubts it.

    1. Hi all. Thanks for commenting on stories on The Local. It’s good to read the views of readers, but some of the comments descend into personal abuse which we cannot accept. When commenting please stick to the subject and make your point without resorting to personal attacks. We will be forced to close the comment section if readers cannot be civil to each other and ban them from commenting. Thanks. Ben McPartland (managing editor)

  2. I don’t suspect monsieur Macron is too bothered about 100,000 anti vaxers, they are your usual antiestablishment nutters, they probably wouldn’t vote for him anyway.

    I suspect the majority of the French people are happy that action is finally being taken against the selfish minority l know I certainly am.

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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”.

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