More than 200,000 people took to the streets of France again against the health certificate

The streets of several cities in France were once again the scene this Saturday, for the fifth consecutive week, of demonstrations against the health certificate promoted by the government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 210,000 people demonstrated on this occasion, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.

The count, slightly lower than that notified by the authorities the previous week, summarizes the data of more than two hundred mobilizations across the country. In Paris, just under 14,000 people took part in the demonstration, while in Toulon, on the French Riviera, some 22,000 have been recorded.

The health record, which certifies that the person is fully vaccinated against covid-19, it is necessary to have a coffee on the terrace, to go to the cinema or to the museum or take public transport to France. Failing that, a test of negative diagnosis.

For the president, Emmanuel Macron is the way to promote vaccination, protect the population and avoid new confinements. For its detractors, this law passed at the end of July is an abuse of power which cuts off essential freedoms, divides and separates.

Both in the capital and in other regions of France, the protests went off without incident in the early hours, under the watchful eye of the security forces. Local TV stations showed attendees chanting slogans of “Let us free France“,” Let’s stop the coronalocura “, and” take your passport, Macron, and let’s go. “

The political scientist Jean-Yves Camus, consulted by the press agencies, estimated that the mobilizations are not monolithic, insofar as they would have succeeded in adding under common flags supporters of the extreme right, followers of conspiracy theories and even members of the “yellow vests”, the protest movement first emerged to protest against the rise in the price of fuel.

“I can’t go where I want”said Marie Huguet, retired.

“There is a division between those who do not have a passport and those who do, that is to say between the privileged and the others”, Béatrice Cazal, 47, denounced in Paris.

Since the beginning of July, this wave of protests continues to mount. Last week, some 237,000 people took to the streets of France, according to the Interior Ministry.

The protest now goes beyond the anti-vaccine movement and the demonstrators accuse the government of underestimating the mobilization.

Also, from Paris, in TOulon, in the southeast, some 22,000 people, according to police figures, took to the streets to protest, despite the intense heat.

“We come to look for them, so that they do not turn into guinea pigs”said a mother, accompanied by her 16-year-old daughter.

“I am opposed to the obligation to be vaccinated especially because we are still testing vaccines”, tells Lille (north) Marie, a 36-year-old nurse who says she prefers to change jobs rather than being forcibly vaccinated.

Currently in France, 68% of the population (approximately 46 million people) received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine and 57.5% received both. Currently, the number of daily cases of coronavirus is around 28,000 and the situation is particularly critical in overseas territories such as Guadeloupe and Martinique.

French demonstrators denounce a “health dictatorship”, an accusation which outraged the government. From Martinique, which had to restore containment due to the sharp upsurge in cases, the Minister of Health, Olivier Verán, estimated this week that we “say too much” about these demonstrations, which hoist “various banners , dubious grounds “. and often disgusting ”.

The French government wants 50 million citizens to have received at least one dose of the vaccine by the end of August.

In the territories of Vaccination abroad is much slower and that is why the delta variant of the coronavirus has hit hard, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

(With information from EuropaPress and AFP)

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