French President Emmanuel Macron has floated the idea of mandatory vaccinations for all citizens, after already making vaccines mandatory for medical personnel.
Speaking during a televised address to the French nation this week, Macron cited the Delta variant of Covid-19 as the reason for the move.
The French government declared that all medical personnel in contact with elderly and sick individuals were required to be vaccinated, and that from September 15th there would be checks to verify who has received the jab and who has not. If a member of medical staff is found to not have received the vaccine, they will be penalised under the new rules.
To date, only 40% of nursing home employees are vaccinated.
“Our country is confronted with a strong resumption of the epidemic,” said Macron.
“The arrival of the so-called Delta variant has led to an increase in infections throughout the world, because this variant is three times more contagious than the original virus. It rushes into every space that is not covered by vaccination.
“The equation is simple: the more we vaccinate, the less space we leave to the virus to spread, the more we avoid hospitalisations and other mutations,” calling for summer of 2021 to be “a summer of mobilisation for vaccination”.
While the vaccine only remains mandatory for healthcare workers at present, the French president floated the idea of mandatory vaccination for all French citizens, saying that the country “must move towards vaccinating everyone, because that is the only path to a return to normal life”.
The president predicted that the question of “mandatory vaccination for all French people” will arise.
Protests against vaccine passports have been popping up around Europe, including one in Ireland outside Leinster House at 12:30 today.