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The France's Health Minister Olivier Veran said overnight before the National Assembly that "5% of patients hospitalized" with COVID-19 in France have a forged health certificate and have not been vaccinated.
"The fake pass kills, that's the reality," he said, addressing the far-left MPs, who were rejecting the strengthening of sanctions in the case of fraud, in the context of the examination of the vaccination pass bill.
Macron wants to piss off the unvaccinated
After three days of stormy meetings fuelled by controversial comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he wants to "piss off" the unvaccinated, the French National Assembly early this morning adopted on first reading the draft law that turns the health pass into a vaccination pass.
Under this, the rules for the vaccination pass will apply to those over the age of 16 and not those over 12 as originally sought by the French government.
This bill will go through the Senate before a final vote for approval by the National Assembly. "The measures in the law seem balanced to us," the minister insisted.
Imprisonment of 5 years for those with a fake certificate
Possession of a fake certificate will now be punishable under the draft law by a five-year prison sentence and the payment of a 75,000 euro fine. Presenting a certificate belonging to another person or transmitting a certificate to another person for the purpose of fraudulent use will be punishable by a flat fine of €1,000, compared to €135 today.
MPs also adopted a government amendment regarding "remorse": holders of fake certificates will not be penalised if they make a first dose of vaccine within 30 days of committing the offence.
For several months French people have been required to produce either a vaccination certificate or a negative test to be able to enter places such as cinemas and cafes and use trains. However with the rise in infections with the Delta and Omicron strains of the new coronavirus, the government decided to drop the test option in the new bill.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex noted today that it would not be very helpful to make vaccination against COVID-19 compulsory to stem the epidemic of the new coronavirus, as the move would cause more problems than solutions.
"We already have some difficulties in controlling compliance with the health pass. These difficulties would become even greater if we made vaccination compulsory," Castex told BFM TV network and RMC Radio station.
Yesterday, Wednesday, France reported a record number of more than 332,252 new cases in the previous 24 hours, and 246 new deaths from COVID-19 in hospitals.
Italy yesterday made vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory from the age of 50, one of very few European countries that have adopted similar measures in an attempt to ease pressure on their health systems and reduce deaths. Countries that have moved toward mandatory vaccination, such as Italy and Austria, have had lower rates of vaccination against COVID-19 than France, Castex also noted.
More than 90% of persons over the age of 12 in France have been immunized with at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to government data.
Moreover, Veran noted earlier, addressing the National Assembly during the debate on the draft law on the vaccination certificate, that a record number -66.000 French people - received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine yesterday, with this number being reached for the first time since 1 October, suggesting that this clear increase has something to do with the discussions on the vaccination pass and Emmanuel Macron's controversial statements.
"I really want to piss off the unvaccinated. And so we're going to keep doing it, until the end. That's the strategy," the French president said in an interview with French newspaper Le Parisien on Tuesday, adding: "When my freedom threatens that of others, I become irresponsible. An irresponsible person is no longer a citizen."
Standing by for a fourth installment
The harsh language used by the French president nearly three months before France's presidential election was widely seen as a politically calculated move, playing on people's growing frustration with the unvaccinated.
Regarding a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the French Prime Minister noted at the same time today that France is ready to proceed with immunisation with the second booster dose as soon as the health authorities give the green light to it. "When the health authorities give us the green light, we will do it," he said."
A fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine quintuples antibodies a week after it is administered, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday, citing the first results of Israeli research."
Source: RES
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