President of France Emmanuel Macron According to the Associated Press, as the Delta variant spreads in Europe, it is expected that medical staff will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Macron will hold a top-level virus safety meeting on Monday to discuss new COVID-19 measures, including the possible requirement for restaurants and other daily activities to use special COVID-19 passes.
Officials said the new restrictions will be relatively mild.
“We must coexist with the virus,” European Minister Clement Bohn told the Associated Press on Sunday. “Coexisting with the virus means we won’t shut everything down again.”
Approximately 40% of the French population is vaccinated, and the vaccine is widely available to people 12 years and older. However, according to the Associated Press, the demand for vaccines has slowed due to hesitation, the feeling that the pandemic is over, and some people’s decision to postpone the vaccine until after the summer vacation.
For more reports from the Associated Press, please see below.
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Macron may also announce other measures: after one of the longest closures in the world, restrictions on the number of people allowed to enter public places that have just been restored in May will resume. Or announce that France can start charging for certain virus tests, which have so far been free for everyone on French territory.
Italy stipulates that medical staff and pharmacists must be vaccinated against the coronavirus, and those who opt out may be suspended or paid. In Denmark, restaurants and public events require a digital pass to show that you have been fully vaccinated or have recently tested negative. Some German states have the same requirements for restaurants, although the recommendation for mandatory vaccination has caused widespread anxiety.
At the same time, French restaurants and bars are booming again, the Tour de France has attracted crowds from all over the country, and Hollywood stars are holding hands and wearing no masks on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival. Cheek kisses are making a comeback.
With the reopening of La Bellevilloise nightclub in eastern Paris on Friday, it may be short-lived for the owner to prepare for the party. But the club audience was excited about rediscovering the dance scene.
Parisian Laurent Queige called it “a kind of liberation, a great happiness.” Sophie Anne Descoubès, the person who went to the club, said that she was impressed by the strictness of the club’s checking of her QR code. She has either been vaccinated or just received a new test. She said: “I have no worries. Just stomp very happy and eagerly.”
Two weeks ago, the number of virus infections in France began to rise again. The records of the health service SOS Medecins showed that there was a slight increase in the demand for emergency virus treatment over the weekend. The number of people in French hospitals and intensive care units has been declining for several weeks, but doctors predict that when delta variant infections increase and hit vulnerable people, the number will increase, as in the United Kingdom and Spain.
Meanwhile, Macron also met with data from the auto industry on Monday, as he tried to combine his virus warning with a message of hope from one of the world’s largest economies. The new infection is threatening France’s vital tourism industry and Macron’s ambitious economic recovery plan-only nine months before the next presidential election.
Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press Photo
