A Vaccine Pass Instead of a Simple Health Pass: Faced with the rise of the Omicron version and to try to avoid the new restrictions, the government wants to increase pressure on French people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Prime Minister Jean Casteaux on Friday evening after the Health Defense Council called for a bill to be introduced “in early January” to convert health passes to vaccination passes.

To enter places subject to this pass (restaurants, places of culture, entertainment, etc.), a negative test will no longer suffice: it will be necessary to necessarily vaccinate (or be cured of COVID) and receive . booster dose.

With regard to access to trains, “this should be clarified soon”, but there is also a “working track” that health pass-related trains are currently “subject to this vaccination obligation”, according to a ministerial source.

According to the work schedule, the bill is expected to be in the Council of Ministers on January 5 and in the National Assembly’s hemicycle on January 10.

Mr Castex said “we consider this to be putting the stress on non-vaccinated people”, as they represent the “bulk” of hospitalized Covid patients.

“It is not acceptable that the refusal of vaccination of a few million French people endangers the lives of the whole country and affects the daily lives of a vast majority of the population”, he said.

At the heart of the concerns is the rise of the Omicron version, very contagious and which could be “dominant” in France from the beginning of 2022, according to Mr. Castex.

Hence the government’s desire to intensify the vaccination campaign, even if the measures announced on Friday do not take effect immediately.

According to Mr. Castex, the deadline for the booster dose will be reduced to four months from January 3 instead of the previous one.

The government fears that hospitals will become overcrowded as the holidays approach, especially due to the staff going on leave during this period.

According to Mr Castex, compensation for overtime worked in the hospital will “double” from next Monday.

One week before Christmas Eve and two weeks before New Year’s Eve, the prime minister indicated that the town hall should give up concerts and fireworks on the evening of 31 December, during which the consumption of alcohol on public streets was prohibited. Will be

President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, canceled a trip to Mali, and to Mr Castex who was to make them for New Year’s Day in Jordan.

Finally, the prime minister recalled the importance of barrier gestures before the holidays: “wear a mask, avoid hugging, regularly ventilate enclosed spaces”.

He also stressed on the need to avoid large tables. Without wishing to quote “an exact number”, he made “a simple recommendation”: “The less we are, the less risk we take.”

“We must do everything we can to avoid resorting to the restrictive measures known in the previous phases”, pleaded Mr. Castex with reference to the various imprisonments.

Prior to these announcements, the main association of pharmacists had indicated to its members that the government was preparing to reimburse Covid self-tests between December 20 and January 2. However, this measure was not mentioned by the Prime Minister.