Vaccine pass: what is in the bill examined at the Palais Bourbon on Monday

With more than 232,000 contaminations on December 31, the Covid-19 epidemic is blazing in France. The deputies are looking Monday, January 3 on the bill transforming the health pass into a vaccination pass, the adoption of which is beyond doubt, despite a tense climate and the hostility of several parties. Examined 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 “responds to the epidemic resumption in an efficient, graduated manner. It makes the choice of science, it is the choice of responsibility”, insists the Minister of Health Olivier Véran at a time when France records contaminations records , with another 232,200 new cases on Friday.

To cope with this surge, the government wants to put a little more pressure on non-vaccinated French people over 12 years old who, failing to be able to justify a vaccination status, will no longer have access to leisure activities, restaurants and bars, fairs or interregional public transport. A negative test will no longer suffice, except for access to health establishments and services. For Olivier Véran, it is urgent because, in view of the virulence of the Omicron variant, the non-vaccinated have “little chance of passing between the drops”.

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Elected officials threatened

In the opposition, the PS group says it votes “on principle” for the vaccine pass, like the majority of LR deputies. The rebels, very offensive to denounce a text creating “two categories of citizens”, the National Rally, which condemns “an increasingly heavy loss of our individual freedoms”, and the Communists, announced that they would oppose the law Project. These votes will be insufficient to derail the text in Parliament, but tensions around the future law remain high, while an online petition saying “No to discrimination against the French” crossed the threshold of 1,115,000 signatures on Saturday.

Several elected officials have reported threats, the personal garage of a deputy was damaged by fire. And the deputy president of the LREM group Aurore Bergé told how she was “fed up with being called a Nazi or a collaborator” by the anti-vax. The bill also provides for tougher penalties. The executive was moved by the circulation of fake health passes, a practice “irresponsible, dangerous or even dramatic” that “some have unfortunately paid with their lives”, according to Olivier Véran. The possession of a false pass will now be punished 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.

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Identity check

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” and preferring to rely on the police. Within the government, we recall that we are already verifying the identity of those who want to pay by check at the supermarket or see a film banned at least 16 years in the cinema. 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.

Several elected officials fought unsuccessfully to exempt minors from 12 to 17 years of age from vaccination passes. A negative test may be sufficient for school trips, on the other hand voted the majority. The government will propose to impose an administrative fine on companies that do not play the telecommuting game. Finally, the bill provides for a state of health emergency until March 31 in Reunion Island and Martinique. But the date of entry into force of the vaccination pass will be postponed overseas where the vaccination rate is lower. “We do not want to re-ignite a social conflict” in the West Indies, Olivier Véran explained on Wednesday.