‘We’ll make you angry’ by Reuters

Author: Layli Foroudi

PARIS (Reuters) – Vaccine protesters rallied in cities across France on Saturday, denouncing President Emmanuel Macron for refusing to “start” people who refused to shoot COVID-19, tightening the limits on civil liberties.

Macron said this week that he wanted to anger people without vaccines by complicating their lives so that they would be beaten. The uninitiated were irresponsible and unworthy of citizenship, he added.

In Paris, protesters responded by accepting his expression, shouting “We will make you angry.”

Others had placards saying “No to Vaccination,” a reference to Macron’s legislative push to demand proof of vaccination for admission to cafes, bars, and museums.

Television footage showed clashes between protesters and police at a site. Demonstrators also marched on the streets of Marseille, Nantes and Le Mans, among other cities.

“(Macron’s notes) were the last straw. We’re not irresponsible,” said hospital administrator Virginie Houget, who avoided a mandatory vaccination order for health care workers because she caught COVID-19 late last year.

Demonstrators accuse Macron of violating their freedoms and treating citizens equally. He argues that freedoms have responsibilities that include protecting the health of others.

France registered more than 300,000 new coronavirus infections for the second time in a week on Friday. Hospitalizations, including intensive care (ICU) COVID-19 patients, are on the rise, putting the health care system under pressure.

Some hospitals report that about 85% of ICU patients do not have COVID-19 vaccine. The data show that 90% of people over the age of 12 are fully vaccinated against COVID.

They must already show proof or vaccine of the vaccine to enter restaurants and bars and use regional trains in France. But as Omicron infections are on the rise, the government wants to give it a try.

Three months before the presidential election, Macron’s sharp speech seemed to be calculated, taking on growing frustration with the unvaccinated.

Conservative challenge Valerie Pecresse said Macron was doing a wedge across the country. Right-wing candidate Eric Zemmour denounced what he called the president’s childish statements.

In the streets of the capital, protesters accused Macroni of politicizing the pandemic before the election.

“I want to anger drug traffickers and criminals, not ordinary people,” said a 55-year-old protester who asked for anonymity because he runs a business.