Emmanuel Macron’s novel strategy to try to convince anti-vaccines

The French President, Emmanuel Macron, launched a strong anti-vaccine message from its social media on Monday amid growing unrest in the country over a controversial health certificate to enter public spaces that will take effect from August 9.

Dressed informally in a black T-shirt, the president uploaded a video on his accounts TIC Tac e Instagram of the presidency’s summer residence in the south of France. He said vaccines are the “only weapon” to deal with a fourth wave of the pandemic.

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“Some of you have heard false rumors, some are rubbish, it has to be said,” Macron said in a selfie video he presented in a casual manner, far from the formality imposed by his position. He also asked those who would doubt to apply the Covid-19 vaccine to educate themselves and try to allay any concerns.

Macron’s remarks came after another day of street protests against the health certificate launched by the government. On Saturday, more than 200,000 people, according to estimates by the French press, demonstrated throughout France.

The president announced in July that he will require the French to have a coronavirus vaccination certificate, negative test or medical visa for a recent recovery from the virus to enter museums, cinemas and sports facilities across the country.

The French president’s initiative aims to stop a fourth wave of the pandemic. The initiative will also govern bars, restaurants, long-distance trains and even shopping malls. The measure will come into effect next Monday, August 9.

Demonstrations against this vaccination certificate have taken place in recent weeks, in some cases with extreme violence. On Saturday evening, demonstrators torched a vaccination center on the French Caribbean island of Martinique.

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Meanwhile, in the city of Montpellier, in the south of France, a pharmacist who tests for the virus was reprimanded by several protesters who accused him of “murderer” and “traitor”.

Since the start of the vaccination campaign, some 42.6 million people in France have received at least one dose of the vaccine. This figure represents 63.2% of the country’s total population. Of these, 35.7 million are fully vaccinated with both doses, or 52.6% of French people.

The country has been one of the most affected in Europe by the virus. At the date, France accumulates a total of 6,146,619 infected with the coronavirus, 111,885 deaths and 5,702,014 patients recovered.