France's constitutional court ruled on Thursday that a new law requiring the public to hold a health pass to access bars and restaurants and health workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-September largely complied with the republic's founding charter.
The Constitutional Council however deemed it was unconstitutional to sack a health worker on a short-term contract who refused the mandatory vaccine and to enforce a mandatory quarantine with checks on anyone testing positive.
President Emmanuel Macron announced the proposed legislation in July as the Delta variant fueled a fourth wave of infections, delivering a plain message: get vaccinated.
It prompted a surge in the vaccination rate as the French faced the prospect of being denied access to bars, restaurants, cafes and cinemas without proof of either vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test.
Opponents of the measures accuse Macron of trampling on freedoms and discriminating against the unvaccinated. Some 200,000 people marched through towns and cities across France in a third weekend of protests on Saturday and more are planned.
