Saturday, December 18, 2021
Omicron spreads
France wants to tighten rules for unvaccinated people
Those who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested are allowed to visit pubs and museums – this is what the Corona protective measures in France provide. But that should change: Due to the spread of the Omikron variant, one test will soon no longer be sufficient. Meanwhile, the government is worried about counterfeiting networks.
In view of the high number of infections, the French government wants to tighten the corona measures for unvaccinated people. The health passport, which is necessary in many areas of public life, is to be converted into a vaccination pass, as Prime Minister Jean Castex said after a meeting of the Corona crisis team. The highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading “very quickly around us in Europe”. Castex warned that it would be dominant in France from the beginning of next year.
The health passport, which provides information on whether someone has been vaccinated, recovered or recently tested negative, must be presented regularly in public life in France. It is required when visiting restaurants, shopping centers, event venues and museums, among others.
Soon, because of the impending omicron wave, a negative test will no longer be sufficient, as Castex explained. Only those who have received a booster vaccination or have recovered will still have a valid passport. The government plans to submit a corresponding draft law to parliament at the beginning of January. In addition, the period between the second and third vaccination is to be shortened from five to four months. “It is unacceptable that the refusal of a few million French people to be vaccinated is endangering the lives of an entire country and affecting the everyday lives of an overwhelming majority of French people,” criticized Castex.
Authorities encounter a large ring of counterfeiters
Meanwhile, French authorities have discovered a large ring of forgeries of health passports. As the news agency AFP learned from informed circles, the criminals are said to have forged between 5000 and 10,000 of the documents. So they have earned an estimated two million euros. The investigation was still ongoing. However, in early December, the authorities arrested a couple in Metz, in the east of the country.
Now further participants are to be determined. According to initial findings, the counterfeiters succeeded in obtaining access data from pharmacists to the programs with which the digital passports are created. They then generated additional passports on behalf of these pharmacists.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Thursday that 400 criminal proceedings had been initiated and around 100 suspects had been arrested in connection with counterfeiting networks. Among those arrested were both customers and sellers of the forged health passports. According to the ministry, there have been 110,000 fake health passports in circulation in France since the system was introduced in the summer.
In France, with its 67 million inhabitants, more than 121,000 people have died of or with a coronavirus infection since the beginning of the pandemic. Almost 90 percent of French people over the age of twelve are vaccinated – France has one of the highest vaccination rates in the EU.
President Emmanuel Macron canceled his trip to Mali planned for Monday due to the persistently high corona numbers, as the Elysée Palace announced on Friday. In Mali, the head of state wanted to meet the controversial interim president Assimi Goita and pay the traditional Christmas visit to the French soldiers stationed in Gao.