France vax pass for cultural venues

THE SO-CALLED “health pass” will be required for all events or places with more than 50 people, before being extended to restaurants, cafes and large shopping centres in August.

Paris, July 21: People wanting to go to cinemas, museums or sports matches in France have to prove they have had a Covid-19 vaccination or a recent negative test from Wednesday as the country rolls out its controversial vaccine passport system in the face of surging new cases.

The so-called “health pass” will be required for all events or places with more than 50 people, before being extended to restaurants, cafes and large shopping centres in August.

The government, which is set to formalise the system with legislation being debated in parliament, is hoping to curb a fourth wave of infections and encourage people to get vaccinated.

Health Minister Olivier Veran warned Tuesday that the more infectious Delta variant was causing an unprecedented increase in new infections, which were up 150 percent over a week at 18,000 in the previous 24 hours.

President Emmanuel Macron met with top ministers Wednesday to discuss the health crisis, and Prime Minister Jean Castex was due to speak on television afterwards.

With most new cases among unvaccinated young people, the health pass is designed to encourage them to protect themselves with a jab and avoid a new nationwide lockdown that would affect the whole population.

But is has faced criticism, even from lawmakers in Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party, for allegedly restricting the civil liberties of the unvaccinated and for requiring venues to check the identities of their patrons. Locations that fail to check the credentials of their customers will face fines of up to 1,500 euros ($1,700) for a first-time offence, and more for subsequent violations.

At the Eiffel Tower in Paris, tests were being offered to visitors who did not have vaccination proof. —