Faced with an outbreak of Covid-19 which is soaring, the deputies examine Monday the bill transforming the health pass into a vaccination pass whose adoption is beyond doubt
At the Palais Bourbon on Monday, then in the Senate from Wednesday, the law “strengthening the tools for managing the health crisis” must come into force on January 15.
This text transforming the health pass into a vaccination pass “responds to the epidemic resumption in an efficient, graduated manner. He made the choice of science “and” of responsibility “, insists the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, while France has just repeatedly crossed the bar of 200,000 new daily cases.
To cope with this surge, the government wants to put even more pressure on the nearly 5 million non-vaccinated French people over the age of 12 who, for want of being able to justify a vaccination status, will no longer have access to activities. facilities, restaurants and bars, fairs or interregional public transport. A negative test will no longer suffice, except for access to health establishments and services.
To have a complete vaccination schedule, Olivier Véran announced that, from February 15, he will have to perform his booster dose four months – and no longer seven – after his second dose, specifying that an infection is always equivalent to an injection. According to the LREM president of the Law Commission, Yaël Braun-Pivet, the vaccination pass will “avoid much more coercive measures”, such as confinements or curfews.
“Brutalizing measure”
In the opposition, the PS group says it votes “on principle” for the vaccine pass, like the majority of LR deputies. The rebels, who denounce a “brutalizing measure” and an “illusion of protection”, the National Rally and the Communists, will vote against. These votes will be insufficient to derail the text in Parliament.
The bill also provides for tougher penalties. The possession of a false pass will henceforth be punishable by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros. Presenting a pass belonging to someone else or transmitting a pass to someone else with a view to its fraudulent use will be punished by a fixed fine of 1,000 euros, compared to 135 euros today.
Managers of establishments open to the public will be able to verify identities themselves. The measure provoked lively discussions in committee, right and left judging the device “unmanageable”.
No corporate pass
Against the opinion of the LREM rapporteur, the deputies also voted in committee to adapt the gauges in the stadiums and rooms, in proportion to their reception capacity. But the measure may not remain in session. “We would quickly enter a gas plant”, opposes Minister Véran.
Several elected officials fought unsuccessfully to exempt minors from 12 to 17 years of age from a vaccination pass. A negative test may be sufficient for school trips, on the other hand voted the majority.
The health pass will not be necessary for work, but the government will propose to impose an administrative fine on companies that do not play the telecommuting game.