Protesters march as France weighs COVID-19 rules
Far-right activists and others denounce bill requiring ‘health pass’ to enter some venues.
PARIS — Some 160,000 people, including far-right activists and members of France’s “yellow vest” movement, protested Saturday across the country against a bill requiring everyone to have a special pass to enter restaurants and mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for all healthcare workers.
Similar protests were held in neighboring Italy.
Police fired water cannons and tear gas on rowdy protesters in Paris, although most gatherings were orderly.
Legislators in France’s Senate were debating the bill Saturday after the lower house of Parliament approved it Friday, as coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are rising. The French government wants to speed up vaccinations to protect vulnerable people and hospitals, and avoid any new lockdown order.
Most French adults are fully vaccinated, and multiple polls indicate a majority of French people support the new measures.
But not everyone. Protesters chanting, “Liberty! Liberty!” gathered at Bastille plaza and marched through eastern Paris in one of several rallies Saturday around France. Thousands also joined a gathering across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower organized by a former top official in Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration party.
Though most protesters were calm, tensions erupted on the margins of the Bastille march. Riot police sprayed tear gas on marchers after someone threw a chair at an officer. Other projectiles were also thrown.
Marchers included farright politicians and activists as well as others angry at President Emmanuel Macron. They were upset over a French “health pass” that is required to enter museums, movie theaters and tourist sites. The bill under debate would expand the pass requirement to other venues.
To get the pass, people need to be fully vaccinated, have a recent negative test or have proof they recently recovered from the virus.
French lawmakers are divided over how far to go in imposing health passes or mandatory vaccinations, but infections are rising quickly. More than 111,000 people in France have died of COVID-19, and the country is seeing about 20,000 new infections a day, up from just a few thousand a day in early July.
More than 2 billion people worldwide have been vaccinated.
In Italy, thousands of protesters gathered in Rome, Milan, Verona and other cities Saturday, protesting the government’s decision to require a “Green Pass” to access indoor dining, local fairs, stadiums, cinemas and other gathering places.
The demonstrations proceeded peacefully and dissipated into evening crowds.
Italy’s new requirement, effective Aug. 3, has led to a boom in vaccine appointments in Italy, where nearly half of the eligible population is fully vaccinated.