The number of protesters who took to the streets of various cities in France in the last 24 hours to express their opposition to the vaccine pass and the vaccines against covid-19 has increased dramatically, while the daily number of new cases in the country remains above the 300,000.
According to authorities, a total of 105,200 people took part in the demonstrations across France, four times the number on the previous demonstration on 18 December.
This development comes after the statements of the French president Emanuel Macron who on Tuesday commented that he wants to “bag” those who refuse to be vaccinated against covid-19 by setting new restrictions.
“I really want to bag the unvaccinated ones. And so we will continue to do so, until the end. That is the strategy, “said Macron in an interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien.
Two days later, the French president stressed that he meant “absolutely” his statements.
Macron’s statements caused a political storm while the National Assembly was considering the bill promoted by the government for the conversion of the health pass into a vaccine pass. The bill was finally adopted on Thursday.
In Paris, 18,000 people took part in three rallies, while another 87,200 took to the streets in other French cities, according to the Interior Ministry.
Ten police officers were injured in the incidents and 34 people were arrested.
On December 18, 25,500 protesters took part in the protests, including 5,500 in Paris, mainly following a call from the Patriots of Florian Filippo, the far-right candidate for the presidency.
Great pressure
Meanwhile, the pressure on French hospitals remained high today, with more than 3,800 patients with covid-19 being treated in intensive care units, according to the Public Health Service.
Moreover, the number of new infections does not seem to be decreasing, as 303,669 new cases were detected in the previous 24 hours.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in France 125,349 people have died due to covid-19, of which 143 in the past 24 hours.
79% of the total population of France has received a dose of covid-19 vaccine and 77.1% have been fully immunized.
Lawsuit against Macron
A French retiree – who has not been immunized against covid-19 – has sued Macron after his controversial statements about the unvaccinated, complaining that he was “shocked and hurt” by them.
Didier Lalant, 63, described Macron’s statements as “offensive” and said the French president was “discriminating”.
That’s why he symbolically filed – as the French president is protected by immunity from office – an action against him on Wednesday for “defamation and public threats from a person in power”, as he explained today to AFP, confirming the report of the regional newspaper La Montagne.
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