Covid-19: French bill could ban the unvaccinated from public transport

 

People who fail to get a Covid-19 vaccination could be banned from using public transport in France, according to a draft law sparking angry protests from opposition politicians on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Jean Castex on Monday got his cabinet's backing for a bill that is designed to provide a legal framework for dealing with health crises, including the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the text, which will now be submitted to parliament, a negative Covid test or proof of a "preventative treatment, including the administration of a vaccine" could be required for people to be granted "access to transport or to some locations, as well as certain activities".

According to opinion polls, 55 percent of French people say they will not get a Covid shot, one of the highest rates in the European Union.

The government's vaccination campaign is to start on Sunday.

President Emmanuel Macron has promised that coronavirus vaccinations, though strongly recommended, will not be mandatory.

But opposition politicians condemned the draft law, with Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right RN party, calling it an "essentially totalitarian" measure.

"In a backhanded way, this bill does not aim to make vaccinations mandatory, but will prevent anybody who doesn't comply from having a social life," she said.

RN party spokesman Sebastien Chenu said Macron's government was planning "a health dictatorship".

Guillaume Peltier, deputy leader of the centre-right LR party, said it was "inconceivable" that the government should be allowed to "get all the power to suspend our freedoms without parliamentary control."

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20201222-covid-19-french-bill-could-ban-unvaccinated-from-public-transport