Description: How vaccine-skeptic France and Germany came to support near-mandates

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Mon, 2021-07-19 12:32 — mike kraft

How vaccine-skeptic France and Germany came to support near-mandates Rejecting coronavirus vaccines could mean exclusion from social life. Rick Noack Washington Post

PARIS — When France and Germany launched their coronavirus vaccination programs late last year, officials in both countries assured that the shots wouldn't be mandatory in their societies, where vaccine skepticism is widespread.

But more than half a year later, the two nations are going further than most other Western countries in granting privileges to people who have been vaccinated and making daily life difficult for those who aren't.

These aren't mandates. Not formally. But in practice, some of the measures come close.

In contrast with the U.S. states that have explicitly banned vaccination mandates or passports, the European Union is using digital covid certificates, with scannable QR codes that quickly show if someone has been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from covid-19. The certificates were designed with the primary goal of easing movement across borders, but many E.U. countries are using them internally, as well.

In Germany, vaccinated people have gained privileged access to restaurants and bars that would otherwise require a recent negative coronavirus test. Some of those restrictions have now been lifted because of low caseloads. But rules could be tightened again, as the European CDC predicts incidence rates across the bloc to triple within the next two weeks because of the delta variant.

German officials have vowed that vaccinated people would not be significantly affected by a fourth-wave lockdown.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron announced this past week that people would have to flash their certificates before entering trains, planes, restaurants, cafes and many other places starting next month.

As in Greece and Italy, vaccination would become mandatory for health workers in France by fall. Most everyone else here would still be in a position to decline vaccines. But the unvaccinated would be largely excluded from social life unless they meet the covid recovery exception or get tested every 48 hours.

In addition, coronavirus tests would no longer be free, unless prescribed by a doctor.

Under a draft law, customers and business owners would risk hefty fines or even jail if they circumvent the rules, which still need to be approved by Parliament.

The French government says the measures are essential to revive a flagging inoculation campaign — which had stalled at around 53 percent for first shots — and to prevent a deadly fourth wave of the virus.

“We must move toward the vaccination of all French people, because it is the only way to return to normal life,” Macron said.

People seemed to get the message. Within hours of Macron’s speech, vaccination booking platforms registered a surge in appointment requests. A record number of shots were administered in France on Tuesday, the day after the announcement.

But thousands of protesters rallied against the measures Saturday, demanding Macron’s resignation and urging the government to reverse its plans. Protests were held in several cities, including Paris, Marseille and Montpellier, drawing the support of politicians from across the far right and far left of the political spectrum. Nearly 114,000 protesters joined marches across France, according to the Interior Ministry. ...

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