France pulls out the big guns!

[NotPregnantJustChubs]

I live in France and Macron has just made a speech saying that from the end of July, vaccination or a negative test is going to be compulsory for cultural and entertainment venues. From August, it’ll be compulsory for cafes and restaurants too. This applies to all 12+.

PCR tests will become paid as of September, to encourage vaccination.

I’m already vaccinated, thankfully, and I do think it’s necessary to contain the delta variant. But wowza, I’m waiting to hear the backlash in the morning. Macron is up for reelection next year as well, they must be very desperate to contain this…

So if this applies to over 12's, who can be vaccinated to France but not in U.K., what about British teens who are visiting?

makes you somehow so put upon

Well society seems to think its okay to incinerate people like me!

And as for protecting the vulnerable. a. I do that every day DH has COPD.

b. i dont vote Tory.
c. Im part of a tenants rights organisation.

@usuallydormant

These rules don’t apply to under 12s I understand.

Going to a cafe or restaurant is a choice not an obligation. I’m in France, I think it makes sense. If we want hospitality and leisure to open - and stay open- this is the logical option. And it is crazy for people working in old people’s homes not to be vaccinated.

We’ve had free tests here for everyone, including for travel until now. And if I have to pay for a test while abroad in the EU, it is reimbursed. I think it is fair enough to get people to pay if they refuse to be vaccinated and put the rest of us at risk. Vaccination is not 100% effective so we need as many vaccinated as possible. There are already lots of compulsory vaccinations to go to school for example so there is a precedent.

If people don’t want to get vaccinated, they will have to restrict their options of socializing: the alternative is rolling lockdowns for everyone.

EU residents will have their digital pass to use on holiday. Not France’s fault if the UK chooses to opt out. With choices come consequences. No one wants to end up in the situation the UK is in currently with cases skyrocketing, hopefully this will slow it down a bit.

I'm in France too, and I agree with you and I'm happy about these new measures. The misinformation about the vaccine on social media is laughable. People can of course choose not to be vaccinated BUT then they give up certain privileges. You can't please everybody during a pandemic!

@LoudNowSing

The places you will need a vaccine or test to visit were closed to everyone in lockdown. They will now be open to people who are vaccinated or covid-negative, while still remaining closed to the non-vaccinated or covid-positive. It's not actually obligatory to go to a restaurant or concert. People manage just fine without them.

YES!!

@MarshaBradyo

What was the take up like before?

Wondering why those who didn’t have it aren’t more annoyed / worried. Or are they?

I’m not sure what take up we’d get if offered to over 12 here but if they had to have it to go into a coffee shop I think people would be vocal. Maybe I’m thinking of SM though

What’s the reaction in France

64.4% in favour apparently.

@KatharinaRosalie

I'm in France and there are so many people who simply could not be arsed. After Macron's announcement, the vaccination booking site got 20K new bookings every minute, so clearly there are plenty of people who are not hardcore objectionists. So yeah I fully support it.

If you can't get vaccinated due to medical reasons, then you can get tested - and I would think that such people can also get a doctor's prescription. But this does not apply to the 60% of the population currently unvaccinated.

It's the only way to get back to some kind of a normality.

YES

@MercyBooth

Oh, I get a tummy ache when I eat strawberries

I cant eat bananas. I end up rolling around screaming in pain. I get the same reaction when i take co codamol. Hence i cant take these things. The pain is indescribable and is all over my back torso and chest. Flippancy like yours proves the point that this is not about caring about others health.

As far as I'm aware, the vaccine doesn't contain bananas or cocodamol. It doesn't contain strawberries either, which was my point.

twitter.com/Mark_J_Harper/status/1414631564730843137?s=20

Mark Harper
@MarkJHarper
The Commons will tomorrow be asked to vote on ‘draft Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021’

Sounds fairly innocuous, no?

These are actually the Regulations to bring in compulsory vaccination - not just for care staff

I’m not sure what take up we’d get if offered to over 12 here

www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/01/not-enough-evidence-to-back-covid-jabs-for-children-says-uk-expert

@MercyBooth

You seem to be implying this means mandatory vaccinations for everyone.. hoping you didn't see his next tweet and it's just a mistake on your part.

He goes in to say:

"…but based on preliminary intentions I am aware of in
@DHSCgovuk, this will also mandate vaccination for those eg carrying out deliveries/servicing the boilers at such care homes…"

Despite having seen one of the shitty sides of this bloody virus (Long Covid) I think this is only okay if you have a 3rd option if a recent and free test... paying for tests is a disaster waiting to happen... !

Parisian Police can be brutal if you’re young, black and haven’t got ID on you on a Friday night - what will they do if you sneak into a club without a jab? Doesn’t bear thinking about.

When is this divisive hell going to end?

@MercyBooth

What do you/the tweet mean by "not just for care staff"? I just looked up the named legislation and that's exactly who that is for

Quote registered person (“A”) in respect of a regulated activity specified in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 (accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care) in a care home End quote.

@workwoes123

For France, they are already talking about lightening the rules for 12-17 yr olds, and possibly delaying some of the imposition of the pass sanitaire in various places. The big aim is to get people off their arses and vaccinated: I think they will pull back on some of the restrictions if the 💉 rate picks up and stays up

I really hope they row back on this. I was hoping to go to France in August with my teenagers but wont be able to now.

Seems last nights announcement might be having the desired effect in places - it has certainly suddenly caused a change in heart amongst many of my eldest’s peer group.

It used to be a case of “I’m too cool to be vaccinated” but I gather a lot of the chat today, roughly translated, has been “how do I get vaccinated PDQ”…

Yes I just checked and most of my closes vaccination centers are all fully booked for next week. Great! It was such a shame to see those hundreds of open appointments before. Seems that this was the kick up the backside that was needed.

I hope they do not relax the conditions too much for UK teens. When the UK are predicting 100000 cases a day, and a very sizable % of those cases will be in unvaccinated teens, it doesn't sound very sensible or safe to give them open access based on a single test result.

I live in Paris. Most people Ive spoken to jumped at the earliest chance to get the vaccine, although like me they struggled to get an appointment.

I have no problem with restaurants, cinemas etc. being able to open to those who are vaccinated/negative rather than everything being closed to everyone.

There will be medical exemptions- there already are. For example my local pool closed during the first lockdown then opened in September. Then in October closed to everyone except those with a medical certificate or high level swimmers.

Then in February it narrowed it down to only people registered as disabled.

My fully vaccinated mum can visit me (UK to France) with no restrictions. I am fully vaccinated, however cannot visit the UK without quarantining and paying a fortune for a test. Its highly frustrating.

@InvincibleInvisibility

I live in Paris. Most people Ive spoken to jumped at the earliest chance to get the vaccine, although like me they struggled to get an appointment.

I have no problem with restaurants, cinemas etc. being able to open to those who are vaccinated/negative rather than everything being closed to everyone.

There will be medical exemptions- there already are. For example my local pool closed during the first lockdown then opened in September. Then in October closed to everyone except those with a medical certificate or high level swimmers.

Then in February it narrowed it down to only people registered as disabled.

My fully vaccinated mum can visit me (UK to France) with no restrictions. I am fully vaccinated, however cannot visit the UK without quarantining and paying a fortune for a test. Its highly frustrating.

Your restrictions are the same as ours though aren’t they?

I mean if you have to test and quarantine here so do we on return

It’s expensive

@IRanSoFarAway1

not Katharina is this in France or the UK please?

In France.

I've been watching with interest all day, when I first heard about it, I thought it was wild that is was coming into effect so rapidly, with so little time to get organised, but now I think it's a genius move. If he had waited to September, everyone would mix and spread over the summer and it would be too late for damage control. Also, people are desperate for their summer holidays and everyone is out and about in restaurants, cafés, etc. over summer so motivation to get vaccinated is far higher. In winter it's so much easier to say, ah well we won't go to the restaurant.

Public health wise, it's brilliant move. Politically, I'm dubious. It sets a very interesting precedent and it will be interesting to see how people react.

Sounds sensible. It's only for cultural venues and restaurants, nothing essential.

No the conditions are not the same @MarshaBradyo. If you are fully vaccinated in the UK, France will accept your certificate and you will not have to quarantine here. If we go to the UK they will not accept our French certificate and we have to quarantine. Infections in France are about ten times lower than in the UK. The vaccines are the same.
How is this fair?

@DanielTigersMummy21

Sounds sensible. It's only for cultural venues and restaurants, nothing essential.

Its for access to all heathcare too which is pretty essential. And I'm sure that Macron will restrict access further in September. Probably to supermarkets and all shops. At the moment he has just specified shopping centres. For some reason the police and gendarmes don't have to have the vaccination, cherchez la logique.