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…

To put it in context, you should also remember that the first thing parents are asked for at the start of every school year in France is an up-to-date copy of their vaccination certificates and if your kids are not vaccinated they are not getting in.

This is all very at this present time - but what about the reports of the vaccines immunity tailing off after circa 6 months - and then all the boosters that will be required, will they then be obliged to get those too?

UK falling behind, but the media don't report how backward the UK is becoming in living with covid, failing to vaccinate over-12s, failing to introduce vaccine passports, failing to stop self-isolation for double-vaccinated close contacts, failing to reduce the gap between vaccinations.

Just like in the first lockdown when the media didn't report how other countries were doing better and a large section of the UK genuinely believe the UK were doing very well and all those deaths were quite low really.

Opening up without properly relying on vaccination is stupidity and the UK will pay the price.

Hi

Regarding vaccine take up in France
Marsha:

As of 11 July ; 60 532 500 have received one jab

53.1% of total population has received one jab

40.6% of total population is fully vaccinated

Source:
solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/actualites/presse/communiques-de-presse/article/vaccination-contre-la-covid-19-en-france-au-11-juillet-2021-plus-de-60-532-500

@loulouljh

Bloody hell-who is vaccinating their kids??!!! Have you not looked at what has happened in the US?! You are truly insane. Poor poor kids.

Link please, or are you just scaremongering?

Is that the same for teens visiting on holiday? Yes. But let's just remember that if I want to visit my family in the UK at the moment I have to quarantine for ten days on arrival pre-book two Covid tests at a cost of approx £200 and if I want to leave quarantine early pay a further £95 to test and release and then pay about the same for a similar test before leaving the country. And that is despite all the family being double vaccinated - so around £1200 if we all want to visit.

@LillianGish

Is that the same for teens visiting on holiday? Yes. But let's just remember that if I want to visit my family in the UK at the moment I have to quarantine for ten days on arrival pre-book two Covid tests at a cost of approx £200 and if I want to leave quarantine early pay a further £95 to test and release and then pay about the same for a similar test before leaving the country. And that is despite all the family being double vaccinated - so around £1200 if we all want to visit.

It’s very expensive for us too with family of five and PCR tests to travel

How long does the negative test allow you entry? So eg you only have to do one at start of two week break and not again

Sorry to post and run, I wasn’t expecting the thread to move so quickly!

I’m just catching up on it all now!

I do wonder how tightly it will be enforced. I just don’t think they have the man power to be policing it in all the restaurants.

It will be useless if this is just a token and not enforced at all.

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.

@loulouljh please could you post a link to what’s happening in America. I am not vaccinating and my child who is about to turn 12 doesn’t want to be vaccinated either if given the choice.

60% unvaccinated? Wow.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

And now the vaccines they are using have been linked to heart inflammation in Rare cases.

The cdc have said that the risk of myocarditis from the vaccine is less than the risk of getting myocarditis from covid in similar age groups. If we’re going to get to herd immunity by infecting all the children and teens rather than vaccinating them we’re going to have a lot more teens getting myocarditis.

Dh has been left with this after covid. Scarring on heart as well. He cannot walk far anymore & can’t talk for long. He can no longer work 5 days a week. Or a full day. He’s definitely not the man he was pre covid. Luckily his work have been great. But I bet it’s not the same for everyone.

72 hours for a PCR, 48h for antigen currently. Don’t think there is any self testing here, all is done in test centers and pharmacies.

It’s for 12 and over so yes, would imagine it will apply to unvaccinated teens. And it’s free for the holidays for French residents, the fees only kick in from the autumn.

@MeadowLines

Similar was announced in Ireland a few days ago

It's very, very different in Ireland. Ireland has one of the world's highest uptake rates of vaccination with even the lowest age groups accepting vaccination being well over 90%. But with Delta, it's just a case that we can't safely reopen everything yet, (because our government still listen to the health advice) so the compromise is that businesses can reopen for fully vaccinated people. In France it's a push to force the vaccine hesitant to cop the fuck on.

What's happening in the US is that the states with lower vaccination rates have 3 times higher rate of new cases.

@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.

That's a useful update.

Yes the cannot be bothered may be a quite large group then.

Ooodlesofboodles

Drug taking is harmful to society in many ways that affects individuals, for someone who has apparently worked with people addicted to drugs you’re not very knowledgable. Drug abuse is associated with higher rates of child abuse and neglect, crime such as burglary, car theft, individuals ending up in prison, not to mention the cost of treatment of addiction and the mental disorders it so often leads to. Who do you think pays for all this? Yes taxpayers.

So when you say

Why should the taxpayer pay for a choice that is actively harmful to society, not just the individual?

Look around, it’s happening all the time. Drug abuse is just one example. So yes, I believe that a person who chooses not to take the vaccine should get the tests paid for by the taxpayer, just like that drug addict gets his treatment and prison sentence funded. It doesn’t worry me personally, I can afford to pay for a test every few days if it comes to it, but others can’t and they’re just as important as you or me.

I respect (and to some extent share) people's reservations about vaccine passports, but those of you making "banned abortions" and "handmaid's tale" leaps of logic should be ashamed of yourselves.

I'm the biggest card-carrying feminist you ever saw, but this kind of thing utterly cheapens the discourse.

How long does the negative test allow you entry? At the moment you just need to test before entry to get into the country. No need to quarantine so no further tests. If venues start asking for vaccine passports then you will need to show a test if not vaccinated (these are still free until September). If you were travelling in the other direction you would be looking at £1600 in tests for a family of five and you would be unable to go anywhere until you had tested to release on day five. Sorry to rant on about this, but it infuriates me that as fully vaccinated Brits if we lived in Britain we wouldn't have to do any of this - it is clearly a money-making exercise.

I imagine so, but I would also think that you need some sort of medical certificate to justify it.

Argh… my quote didn’t work! The above was to the poster who asked about medical exemption.

@MarshaBradyo

JasJas maybe re nightclubs, we seem to have form for a lot of urging ;

Possibly will change but government seems to be living away from legal enforcement not towards it

Lol yes! personal responsibility seems to be the cry atm - might change tomo! last week it was "throw away your masks"

We don't have ID cards, so i agree it would be difficult to have a mandatory scheme but that hasn't stopped it being a condition of travel to avoid quarantine.

For France and Europe, this is a great way forward.

Perhaps this might be a precursor for ID cards for us too?

How does it work if you go on holiday in France in August then, assuming they don't just shut the doors to us before then? We are all double-jabbed apart from children aged over 12. Not because we've not wanted them to be vaccinated but because it hasn't been possible. They'd have to have a test before being allowed to go inside anywhere? How would this work for people on holiday who haven't been able to have the vaccinations?

@LillianGish

How long does the negative test allow you entry? At the moment you just need to test before entry to get into the country. No need to quarantine so no further tests. If venues start asking for vaccine passports then you will need to show a test if not vaccinated (these are still free until September). If you were travelling in the other direction you would be looking at £1600 in tests for a family of five and you would be unable to go anywhere until you had tested to release on day five. Sorry to rant on about this, but it infuriates me that as fully vaccinated Brits if we lived in Britain we wouldn't have to do any of this - it is clearly a money-making exercise.

It’s the same for residents here isn’t it?

I haven’t checked for a while but if I want to leave it will be around £2k. Has that changed? Should look as it would help.

Ok so tests will be free there to September? I’m imagining how many test a teen might need over a two week holiday there, whether a negative lasts the whole time