French rush to get vaccines after Macron links new ‘health card’ to Café Life: Coronavirus updates: NPR

A record number of French citizens booked vaccinations on Monday, after French President Emmanuel Macron said that from August anyone wishing to visit cafes, bars or malls must show a “health card” confirming they have been vaccinated or have recently tested negative for COVID. -19.

“Take the vaccine!” The president said in direct address to the nation, warning of a surge in novel coronavirus fueled by a rapidly spreading delta variant.

Many of the French received the message loud and clear. On Monday, 926,000 people booked their first dose through the online medical platform Doctolib – an “absolute record”, The site says. Hundreds of thousands more continued to book slots on Tuesday.

Macron said vaccination was “the only way to return to normal life”. He called it “our collective shield.”

The new policy also makes vaccinations or a recent negative test mandatory for:

• Anyone working in health care and nursing homes or in contact with vulnerable people, with the deadline in mid-September.
• Anyone 12 or older who wants to visit a theme park or attend a show, concert or festival, starting July 21.

Macron says France will have to live with the virus

France celebrated the return of restaurants and cafes last month, as months of lockdown orders ended and a nightly curfew eased. The state has also reopened a vital tourism industry – but officials say a return to business as usual depends on people adopting vaccination.

“It is a question of individual responsibility and a sense of collective spirit,” Macron said in his speech. “It is also what our freedom for all depends upon.”

In another change, starting in the fall, COVID-19 tests will not be free unless prescribed by a doctor — a strategy meant to push people away from relying on frequent negative COVID-19 tests to prove they do not pose health risks to others.

Macron has not issued any new lockdown orders, instead reiterating that the French public will have to “live with the virus,” likely through at least part of 2022.

Less than half of the country has been vaccinated

The rate of new cases in France is currently well below the large secondary spike it holds in the spring. but just around 37% of the country has been vaccinatedCorona virus variants Prevalent in screening testsMacron and other officials say the recent surge in cases is a warning that the country is once again at risk of seeing its health system overwhelmed with new COVID-19 cases.

Many of the new cases come from young people, specifically those between the ages of 15 and 44, according to the country Ministry of Health.

France has reported more than 5.8 million cases of COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, the fourth most infected in the world. More than 111,000 people have died of the disease in the country.