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Thousands protest against French COVID vaccine Coronavirus pandemic News

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Protesters have taken to the streets in cities across France to reject a law that would impose tougher restrictions on people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19, as Parliament continues to debate the bill.

Thousands of people took part in the protests on Saturday, and several political groups rallied. The largest gathering in the capital, Paris, took place near the Eiffel Tower, in a protest called by EU presidential candidate Florian Philippot.

Other protests led to the 2018-19 yellow “vest” movement against economic reforms planned by President Emmanuel Macron, and more rallies in major cities including Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lille.

People shouted “no to the vaccine” or “freedom for Djokovic,” taking advantage of the case of Novak Djokovic, the world’s number one men’s tennis player. Fighting against the Australian government to compete without vaccines at the Australian Grand Slam.

“Novak is our standard at the moment,” protester Pascal told the Bordeaux AFP news agency.

He was traveling with his parents with his children to a tennis club in the western city, where the coach said he was at risk of losing his job because he refused the vaccine.

In Paris, protesters carried French and regional flags with messages such as “It’s not the virus they want to control, it’s you.”

Laurence and Claire told AFP that the two protesters had been vaccinated, “but we are against the teenage pass, we don’t see why they are vaccinated because they are not in danger.”

Although officials did not publish an estimate of national participation by the end of the afternoon, police or local authorities counted about 1,000 in Lyon, Nantes, Bordeaux and Marseille.

Demonstrators hoped to surpass the 105,000 who took to the streets last weekend, some perhaps because Macron stated in a newspaper interview that he wanted to “facilitate” those who had not mobilized with the new restrictions that were mobilized until a coronavirus shot was approved.

Members of the National Assembly removed the vaccination bill from the upper house in the first hour of Saturday. It is likely that the Senate will finally approve on Sunday, after a back-and-forth between the two houses, the minimum age for passage and the questions that landlords should have the power to verify the identity of customers.

People are attending a demonstration called by the French nationalist party Les Patriotes (Patriots) in the Trocadero Square in Paris (France). [Benoit Tessier/Reuters]

‘Get vaccinated’

In the first step, a measure to deactivate the government-issued “health card” for tens of thousands of people who did not receive the revocation vaccine on Saturday came into force seven months after the first shooting.

Under the law being debated in Parliament, a walkway that provides access to public spaces such as bars and restaurants will become a “vaccination walkway,” which will require proof of ownership.

So far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange.

Juan Fernandez, a 32-year-old man, told AFP on Saturday morning that he had been shot “immediately”. “When you go out, you need a health card every time, that’s the main reason I did it.”

The government has pushed for tougher measures as it faces a wave of infections the fastest spreading Omicron variant.

Austrian protests

Meanwhile, in the Austrian capital, Vienna, the government has renewed pressure on the plan to implement mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for next month to rally thousands of protesters against the movement.

“The government has to go!” Crowds shouted at a rally in central Vienna in what has become a regular Saturday event. Parliament will vote on the issue next week, as it has polarized the country as the number of coronavirus cases has risen.

In a profile magazine survey, 51 percent of those surveyed said the blows were mandatory from February onwards, of which 34% were generally against the mandatory vaccine and 17% wanted to wait. According to the survey, 45 per cent of Austrians voted in favor of compulsory vaccination since February.



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