French President Emmanuel Macron has doubled down on remarks earlier this week that he wanted to “piss off” the country’s unvaccinated by telling them on Friday they had a ‘civic duty’ to get inoculated.
Speaking in a news conference in Paris, Mr Macron urged people to get vaccinated.
“When some make from their freedom... a motto, not only do they put others’ lives at risk, but they are also curtailing others’ freedom. That I cannot accept,” he said in reference to unvaccinated people.
“When you are a citizen you must agree to do your civic duty.”
The French president, who is expected to seek re-election later this year, added that the country’s strategy is to “vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate”.
The robust language used by the 44-year-old president earlier this week when talking about his party’s plans to enact legislation provoked angry reactions from political rivals and caused an uproar in the French media.
The new vaccine pass measures will be debated at the Senate next week and the government hopes to put it in place around mid-January.
The measure will exclude unvaccinated individuals from places such as restaurants, cinemas, theatres, museums and sports arenas.
The pass will also be required on inter-regional trains and buses, and on domestic flights.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right party National Rally, criticised Mr Macron’s comments, saying that he was attempting “to wage war against a portion of the French”.
His remarks come as France grapples with Europe’s worst Covid outbreak and has also detected a new variant B.1.640.2 - named IHU - in the south-east of the country.
On Wednesday, the country reported the continent’s highest-ever single-day confirmed infection count - 335,00 Covid cases.
The record-high Covid cases is proving a particular challenge to schools who are struggling under a new testing regime, alongside staff and pupil absences due to infection.
Unlike many EU counterparts the government put emphasis on keeping schools open in recent months and it did not extend holidays to let Omicron and Delta waves pass.
Teachers’ unions are upset by the current situation, and one of them, the SNUipp-FSU, has called a strike for next Thursday, saying “schools are on the edge of blowing up.”
In France about 77 per cent of the population, including more than 91 per cent of adults, are fully vaccinated.
Additional reporting by AP
