Two days before its entry into force, opponents of the vaccine pass are not taking off. In Paris, where four demonstrations had been declared, Yellow Vests marched in the morning between the Square d’Anvers and the Place de la Nation, relayed in the afternoon by the movement Les Patriotes de Florian Philippot, which brought together a crowd of all ages, including parents with their children.
The procession of several hundred people, mostly unmasked, marched from Place de Barcelona (16th) to the Ministry of Health, in the 7th arrondissement, notably carrying signs “Liberty”, “Truth” or “No to Apartheid”, French flags or displaying the Cross of Lorraine. “Vaccination pass, total resistance! or “Macron, we t’em …”, chanted the demonstrators. “I would rather die at the gates of freedom than die in the hells of servitude,” proclaimed one sign, while another depicted a syringe piercing Marianne. An animator chanted “Resistance! Resistance! or even “Freedom!” Freedom ! »
“Anti vaccine pass but not for Philippot”
Among the demonstrators, Sophie, a 44-year-old lawyer and Franck, a 56-year-old computer consultant, are both vaccinated, but not their daughter, because they oppose the vaccination of children and adolescents. They explained that they were “anti-vaccine pass but not for Philippot”. For Franck, “the discourse of the authorities is incoherent and varies over time, depending on the contingencies”, and “we no longer know how to distinguish the true from the false”. Sophie for her part regrets that “when the virus is the least virulent, we put in place the vaccination pass, when we could play the natural collective immunity”.
Same remark from a man presenting himself as a 40-year-old computer technician, who came with his 8-year-old son, who says he has never voted for the extremes but finds that Florian Philippot offers a counterpoint, otherwise “we hear always the same things”.
Demonstrations in all major cities
Other demonstrations took place throughout France. 700 people gathered in Aix-en-Provence, 950 in Montpellier and 1,200 in Marseille, according to police figures. In Bordeaux, they were 450 according to the police, twice less than last week. Among them, Anaëlle, a nurse on maternity leave, for whom “the vaccination obligation is a shame” and who denounces “experimental projects”. “Vaccinated people get sick, what’s the point? she wonders.
The demonstrators were also around 300 in Lille, including a few dozen yellow vests, behind a head banner saying “no to dictatorship” and demanding “social, fiscal and ecological justice”. “No more tests, no more masks, we don’t want them anymore! could be heard in Strasbourg, where 600 participants were gathered according to the police.