Following the health defense council held this Friday, December 17, Prime Minister Jean Castex unveiled the new measures that will come into force in France from Monday in order to stem the fifth wave of Covid-19 in France.
With a meteoric increase in Europe in recent weeks, the Omicron variant worries the French executive. Jean Castex indicated this Friday that the latter “will spread very quickly to the point of becoming dominant from the beginning of the year 2022”.
“If its speed of propagation appears much higher, it does not seem more dangerous than the Delta variant”, explained the Prime Minister during a speech to Matignon. However, the focus was on vaccination with “more than 950,000 injections performed today” according to figures provided by Jean Castex.
In order to limit the spread of this variant and relieve the hospital sector, overwhelmed in recent days with the activation of white plans in many establishments, the French government will put in place some strong measures from Monday.
Gatherings for the end of year celebrations
After announcing the closure of nightclubs and the ban on dancing in bars and restaurants earlier this month, the government tightened the screws for the New Year’s festivities.
The Prime Minister assured that the prefects would ban concerts and fireworks, as well as wild gatherings and the consumption of alcohol on the public highway in their territory for the evening of December 31.
The head of government has issued recommendations for Christmas. After recalling the importance of barrier gestures in limiting the spread of the virus, he invited anyone wishing to meet to be tested beforehand. If no limitation concerning the number of guests was mentioned, Jean Castex recalled an adage: “the fewer there are, the less risks we take”.
From a health pass to a vaccination pass
The Prime Minister unveiled a bill intended to be submitted to Parliament for a vote in early January in order to “transform the health pass into a vaccination pass and tighten the conditions of control and sanctions against false passes”.
In order to activate this new pass, which will be under study from the start of next year, it will be necessary to have a complete vaccination schedule and no longer a simple negative test as is currently the case. The objective of this initiative is clear: to strongly encourage the recalcitrant to vaccination.
4-month period for the vaccine booster
In order to facilitate access to vaccination, the government has decided to reduce the time between two booster doses.
Originally set at 5 months, the waiting time between two injections has been shortened to 4 months.
Double overtime pay in hospital
Heavily requisitioned since the start of the pandemic, hospital staff were entitled to a favorable announcement. The Prime Minister explained that the remuneration for their overtime would be doubled from Monday in anticipation of their mobilization with this fifth wave.
“We have asked city professionals to mobilize to ensure the continuity of care during this period and measures will also be deployed for our emergency services,” said Jean Castex during his speech.