France rolls out mandatory vaccine proof in all cultural centers, via ‘health pass'

[Stone]

French President Sets Stricter Health Rules; Cannes Festival Unaffected by New Orders

Variety (emphasis mine) | July 12, 2021

French president Emmanuel Macron has announced new health rules to contain the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The country is currently hosting the Cannes Film Festival with several thousands of guests from all around the world.

The key measure announced by Macron will make the EU Digital Covid Certificate — commonly called “health pass” — mandatory in all cultural venues, including cinemas, theaters and concert halls starting on July 21. Starting in August, the health pass will be mandatory in cafes, shops, restaurants, as well as trains and planes, among other places.

The pass launched on July 1 and is meant to facilitate travel within Europe and ease the pressure for multiple tests by allowing people to receive a QR code once they get tested or vaccinated and use it as official proof. So far, the certificate was only required at festivals and any events gathering more than 5,000 people, such as Cannes. The festival made it mandatory for all guests to show the health pass upon entering the Palais, where many screenings are taking place, and the Marché du Film. U.K. and U.S. participants, who don’t have access to the health pass, have had to show a negative PCR test and get tested every 48 hours during the fest, but they were able to attend gala screenings in the Lumiere and the Debussy theaters because they are actual cinemas.

Macron is also making the vaccine mandatory for all doctors, nurses and caregivers, as well as people with health conditions or those considered “vulnerable.”

“As I’m talking now, our country is confronted with a strong uptake of the pandemic which is impacting all of France, including its overseas territories,” said Macron. “As long as the virus will continue circulating, we will be confronted with this situation. The rise of the Delta variant is seen through an increase of contaminations everywhere in the world because this variant is three times more contagious than the first strain,” added Macron.

“New restrictions have been enforced in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands to face this new variant. In Asia, new lockdown measures have been taken,” added Macron.

Over at Cannes, the general secretary Francois Desrousseaux squashed rumors swirling around the festival about skyrocketing coronavirus cases. He told Variety Friday that there was no COVID-19 cluster and that “out of several thousand people getting testing here on a daily basis, there are an average of three cases per day.”

[Stone]

French Citizens Riot in Response to Plan to Mandate Vaccine Passports

Riot cops use tear gas on demonstrators.

Summit News | 14 July, 2021

French citizens rioted in response to plans by President Macron to mandate vaccine passports to enter venues like shopping malls, restaurants bars, hospitals, bars, cafés and access public transport.

As we highlighted yesterday, people will have to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter any of these sites from August onwards.

Given that they would have to cover the bill for every single PCR test, the restrictions would make the vaccine de facto mandatory for anyone who wants to live a normal life.

People in Paris responded on Bastille Day with an unruly protest that led to French police using tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

“The police stepped in shortly after scores of protesters marched down a boulevard in central Paris on Wednesday without permission from the Paris authorities,” reports Reuters. “Some wore badges saying “No to the health pass”.

Police vans and riot police also blocked off roads in an attempt to prevent the procession of the protest.

There were also riots and protests after the French government previously tried to make taking the vaccination a condition of using public transport, leading to the proposed bill being shelved.

It remains to be seen whether the unrest will build and force Macron into another U-turn.

France was beset with many months of Yellow Vest protests that began in late 2018 and only ended in March 2020 due to the first COVID-19 lockdown.

The Gilets Jaunes is a populist movement that unifies concerns shared by both the left and right, meaning it could rise again as a rebellion against COVID passes if the French government persists in mandating such draconian measures.

[Stone]

French Face 6 Months in Jail For Entering a Bar or Restaurant Without a COVID Pass

Owners face a year in prison, €45,000 fine.

Summit News | 16 July, 2021

People in France who enter a bar or restaurant without a COVID pass face 6 months in jail, while business owners who fail to check their status face a 1 year prison sentence and a €45,000 fine.

Yes, really.

The punishments are part of a draconian effort by the French government to force citizens to get the coronavirus jab amidst multiple unruly protests across numerous major cities.

President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this week that those unable to prove they’re vaccinated or a negative COVID test (at their own cost) will be banned from using public transport, entering a cinema, shopping mall, bar, cafe, restaurant and other venues from August 1st.

“People unable to present a valid health pass risk up to six months in prison and a fine of up to €10,000 (£8,500), according to the draft text of the law, while owners of “establishments welcoming the public” who fail to check patrons’ passes could go to jail for a year and be hit with a €45,000 fine,” reports the Guardian.

The sanctions represent the most authoritarian move to force vaccine compliance in the west, and probably outstrip a lot of actual dictatorships in other parts of the world.

The Guardian rather euphemistically describes it as a “big stick approach,” which would be true if that ‘big stick’ were an electric cattle prod the size of the One World Trade Center building in New York.

The government had to withdraw a similar law back in December following numerous riots, but merely re-introduced the same legislation with even tougher punishments for dissenters.

As we previously highlighted, police in Paris used tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting against the measures in scenes that unfolded in several other major cities throughout the country.

We are now entering the phase of the pandemic where it’s becoming clear that those who refuse to take the vaccine will remain under the most onerous lockdown measures yet in perpetuity.

[SAguide]

BeachMilk
@BeachMilk

This is the FOURTH consecutive day of massive protests in France against mandatory vaccinations, and vaccination passports.

As each day passes, French citizens are becoming more POWERFUL!

see short video clip in this link:  Gab/Social

[Stone]

Macron Forced to Back Down on Mandating Vaccine Passports For Shopping Malls After Nationwide Protests

Rules tweaked after unruly demonstrations.

Summit News | 19 July, 2021


French President Emmanuel Macron has been forced to back down on imposing mandatory vaccine passports for entry to shopping malls after volatile nationwide protests.

As we highlighted last week, Macron’s announcement that proof or vaccination or a negative test would be required to visit shopping malls, restaurants bars, hospitals, bars, cafés and access public transport sparked immediate demonstrations.

Those continued over the weekend, with around 114,000 people participating in protests in major cities like Nantes, where police again used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

“In Lyon, the police arrested nine demonstrators while in Lans-en-Vercors, a vaccination centre was ransacked on Saturday morning,” reports the Express.

The scenes prompted Macron to have to walk back at least part of the measures, with COVID passes now only required for malls with a surface area of more than 20,000 square meters.

“Business leaders are worried and I want to reassure them: We will show understanding,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the media.

As we previously documented, under the the draconian law, people in France who enter a bar or restaurant without a COVID pass face 6 months in jail, while business owners who fail to check their status face a 1 year prison sentence and a €45,000 fine.

As in the UK, where vaccine passports will become mandatory for nightclubs, larger venues and potentially even pubs after that, a two tier medical apartheid is being created under which those who don’t take the jab will remain under de facto lockdown indefinitely.