215,000 French people demonstrate for the fifth consecutive week against the covid certificate | Society

Tens of thousands of people went out again this Saturday across France to protest against the measures of Emmanuel Macron’s government to promote vaccination against the coronavirus, in particular the covid certificate which has been in force for a week and compulsory vaccination health workers. According to the Interior Ministry, nearly 215,000 people took to the streets for the fifth consecutive Saturday to demonstrate their opposition to what they see as a “health dictatorship”, despite the fact that the worsening pandemic has led to new confinements and caused saturation hospitalization in overseas territories, where the vaccination rate is much lower than that of metropolitan France.

Turnout was somewhat lower than expected – the press had quoted official sources estimating an increase to 250,000 participants – and also lower than last week, when a peak of 237,000 protesters was recorded. However, observers have underlined the capacity to mobilize a social protest without clear leaders and in the middle of the vacation period.

The government has insisted for days that the number of people who get vaccinated each week is much higher than the number who take to the streets to protest. Macron even reiterated this week his goal of reaching the 50 million citizens who received at least one dose before the end of August. However, according to the French press, the fact that the protests are not only not diminishing but continuing to strengthen is starting to cause concern in an executive who is experiencing firsthand the wear and tear of long-term protests, such as those that have. lived with the yellow vests between the end of 2018 and 2019 and that he is already looking, like the rest of the parties, towards the presidential elections in less than a year.

The new demonstrations – there have been around two hundred calls throughout the country – come while the health certificate has been in force for nearly a week and in the French overseas departments and territories, once again confined, the situation worsens at times . On Monday, proof that one is vaccinated, a negative test or that the coronavirus has passed, began to be required to enter bars and restaurants – even on the terrace -, board a domestic flight or a long-distance train and even to visit or accompany someone to the hospital. The measure was already in place since July 21 for museums, cinemas and theaters and, from this next Monday, it will also have to access shopping centers of more than 20,000 square meters in regions where the incidence rate exceeds 200 cases. per 100,000 inhabitants. The measure will also affect nine shopping centers in Paris, including the iconic Galeries Lafayette, as the police headquarters announced on Saturday. In total, across the country, 104 shopping centers and stores will require a health check from Monday, according to Agence France Presse.

In a rare public address at the start of a health defense council – which is usually held strictly behind closed doors, it also shows concern over the protests – Macron warned on Wednesday that the COVID certificate is a lesser evil. “It is that or the closure of the country, a new curfew or confinement”, he declared, while stressing that the health crisis is not yet overcome and that the vaccines “are a comprehensive insurance against hospitalizations “. Witness, according to the government, the critical situation in overseas territories such as Guadeloupe or Martinique, again confined and where additional medical staff had to be sent to deal with collapsed hospitals with new cases of coronavirus. .