They were again several tens of thousands to demonstrate in France, Saturday, September 18, against the health pass. For the tenth weekend in a row, 180 rallies were scheduled across the country. At 6 pm, the Interior Ministry had identified 80,000 demonstrators, including 6,100 in Paris, against 121,000 demonstrators last Saturday and 140,000 the previous week. They were 237,000 participants on August 7.
In the processions, the criticisms against the vaccination obligation, in force for several professions since September 15, were numerous. “I did not get vaccinated, not even in a dream, and I quit” of the public service, for example declared to Agence France-Presse (AFP) a nursing assistant from Ile-de-France, in a demonstration organized in Paris at the call of “yellow vests”.
The milestone of 50 million people vaccinated reached
On Thursday, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, announced that “Some 3,000 suspensions” had been served on health personnel not vaccinated against Covid-19, after the entry into force of the vaccination obligation.
These protests took place as the symbolic milestone of 50 million people who received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine was reached on Friday. Out of nearly 58 million eligible French people over the age of 12, more than 86% have received at least one injection. Emmanuel Macron himself announced it on Friday in a video posted on social networks, affirming : “The vaccine saves lives, the virus kills, it’s simple. ” Since the start of the epidemic, 115,960 people have died from Covid-19 in France.
“Ave Jupiter, the refractory Gauls will resist”, answered him, Saturday, certain demonstrators who had registered this reply on their yellow vest, in one of the three Parisian processions. “Welcome to Kontrolistan. Glory to Macronescu our guide », “Free France”, could we also read on signs, on the Parisian place of Trocadero, where the Patriots rally, at the call of Florian Philippot (far right), gathered several hundred people from 2 p.m.
Emmanuel Macron ready to “lift certain constraints”
In Lyon, a demonstration gathered, from 2 p.m., about a thousand people, according to the prefecture. On some signs, we read “Vaccinated against lies” Where “Stop, the vaccine obligation!” “. The demonstrators were 2,100 in Lille, according to the prefecture, 100 more than the previous Saturday, or 1,200 in Metz, against 1,500 last week. In Pau, some 1,200 people demonstrated, according to France Bleu, a figure that has been declining for several consecutive weeks.
In Toulouse, they were 1,500, according to the prefecture. After one violent brawl last week between protesters and far-right activists, hundreds of people chanted “Toulouse, Toulouse, antifa” in the procession or “Down with the state, the cops and the fascists”.
Among the thousands of demonstrators in Montpellier – 3,000 depending on the prefecture – Josiane, 71, retired commercial, claimed to be unvaccinated to AFP: “I had always trusted medicine and vaccines, did she say. But, there, I have the impression that there is something unhealthy that one cannot control. We have as much information against the vaccine as we do. We no longer know where we are. I have lost all confidence. “
At the same time, the Covid-19 epidemic is slowing in France, according to the authorities. Mr. Macron said he was ready on Thursday to “Remove certain constraints” in “The territories where the virus circulates less quickly”. However, he did not give a precise timetable.
The health pass became compulsory on July 21 in places accommodating more than 50 people. It was then extended to hospitals (except emergencies), bars and restaurants, then, on August 30, to 1.8 million employees working in contact with the public. On September 30, it should be extended to all adolescents over 12, who are currently exempt.
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