He detailed the deconfinement strategy in the regional daily press at the end of April. Emmanuel Macron chose television for his 8th speech since the start of the health crisis for a solemn address to the Nation. Because times have changed. After two months of gradual deconfinement, back to the terraces, innocence found, the economy has been more gloomy for a week.
In question, the Delta variant, more contagious than the preceding strains, which thwarts the plans of the government. If hospital pressure is still declining with 947 people in critical care, the trend is upwards in contaminations, with 4,256 new cases recorded on Sunday, against 2,549 a week ago. How to encourage the French to be vaccinated? The president, after a Defense Council this morning at the Elysee Palace on Monday morning, ruled: vaccination will become compulsory for caregivers, hospital staff and volunteers taking care of fragile people. And the health pass will be extended to bars, restaurants, transport and hospitals from August.
- Vaccination obligation for caregivers
For a week, the debate around compulsory vaccination for caregivers has been raging. Friday, the Scientific Council recommended “an obligation to vaccinate for caregivers”, affirming to rely on the “recommendation” of the orientation council of the vaccination strategy.
While it is difficult to obtain precise figures on the vaccination of caregivers, there is a significant difference: 89.9% of private caregivers have received at least one dose, against 59.3% of professionals in nursing homes. Insufficient, considers the power. After
consultations last week of caregivers on the health ministry side, and party leaders on the prime minister’s side, the decision therefore fell. All caregivers must be vaccinated against Covid-19 at the start of the school year. For whom precisely? “Nursing and non-nursing staff in hospitals, clinics, retirement homes and establishments for people with disabilities,” said the Head of State. A vaccination obligation that will apply by September 15 also to all professionals and volunteers who work in contact with the elderly or frail, including at home. Controls and sanctions will be put in place from mid-September.
Olivier Véran clarified a few minutes after the end of the presidential address that caregivers not vaccinated on September 15 “will no longer be able to work and will no longer be paid”.
To impose this obligation, the government must pass a law. And he wants to go fast. A bill will therefore be presented to the Council of Ministers on Monday July 19 and examined in the week by Parliament. Which will include a second component to encourage vaccination: the extension of the health pass.
- Extension of the health pass
Currently, the health pass allows access to gatherings of more than 1,000 people and in nightclubs. It can be presented in the form of a QR code on the Tousanticovid application or in a paper. And presents proof either of a complete vaccination schedule (therefore two weeks after the second dose or the single dose), or of a negative PCR or antigen test (less than 48 hours), or finally of a test proving recovery from Covid-19 (proof of contamination between six months and two weeks). Faced with the threat of a fourth wave, the president has chosen to greatly extend this health pass. “The equation is simple: the more we vaccinate, the less space we will leave for the virus to spread, the more we will avoid hospitalizations”, justified the president, calling for “a summer of mobilization for vaccination”.
“From July 21, the health pass will be extended to places of culture and leisure bringing together more than 50 people,” explained Emmanuel Macron. For all French people over 12 years old, they will need to be vaccinated or have a recent negative test to attend a show, concert, cinema, festival or enter an amusement park… Second step: “From At the beginning of August, the health pass will be applied in cafes, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, medico-social establishments, shopping centers, long-distance travel by plane, train, bus… ”A very important expansion therefore, without excluding adding other activities to this list later.
Emmanuel Macron has also decided that PCR tests, without a prescription, will become chargeable from the fall. The Academy of Medicine had suggested this track to encourage the recalcitrant to be vaccinated. In addition, a recall campaign will be set up from the beginning of September for those vaccinated in January and February.
Finally, for the overseas territories, the decisions are more drastic: the state of health emergency will be declared on Tuesday in Martinique and Reunion and a curfew will be established.
- Reform of pensions and unemployment insurance still on the agenda
But the president did not limit himself to issues related to Covid-19. He also touched on the subject of economic recovery… and above all pending reforms. “I asked the government to launch a massive training and re-qualification plan for the long-term unemployed,” insisted the president. Unemployment insurance reform will be fully implemented from October 1, around a simple desire in France, one must always earn a better living by working than at home. “
More controversial, the pension reform is obviously not buried. “We will have to initiate pension reform. Our system is unfair. Special diets will have to be abolished. Because we are living longer, we will have to retire later. The departure age must be later. Any retirement for a full career must be greater than 1,000 euros per month. “If he wants the government to work on this reform, put on hold since the health crisis, the president assures us that the timing has not yet been defined. “I heard the debates. I will not launch this reform until the epidemic is under control. “
Finally, the president announced the creation of a “commitment income for young people without employment or training”. This is in fact the new name of the current “guarantee for young people”, which will therefore be widely extended.