Paris (AFP)

The milestone of 40 million first-time vaccinated was crossed Monday, announced Emmanuel Macron, determined to keep pace with the controversial extension of the health pass, voted in Parliament on Sunday and which should apply "in early August".

"40 million French people have received at least one dose of vaccine, or nearly 60% of the population (+4 million in fifteen days). It is all together that we will defeat the virus. We continue!", Urged in a tweet from the president, who is currently in French Polynesia.

This milestone is reached when Parliament has just adopted the bill providing for the extension of the health pass and the vaccination obligation for certain professions such as caregivers (which must apply in mid-September) that Emmanuel Macron had. announced on July 12 against the Delta variant at the origin of the "fourth wave" of the epidemic.

This new text was adopted painfully on the night of Sunday to Monday in parliament, after several days of heated debates.

LFI, the PCF and the RN voted against.

The day before, more than 160,000 people had taken to the streets against a text deemed "liberticide".

# photo1

The law has yet to pass the filter of the Constitutional Council: he announced on Monday that he would render his decision on Thursday, August 5.

The government will publish one or more implementing decrees in the following days.

Almost 50% (33.2 million) have a complete vaccination schedule, according to the Ministry of Health, a figure placing France above the EU average (46.4%).

"Last week, more than 1.8 million French people made their vaccination appointment on Doctolib. This represents a total of 5.4 million French people since Monday, July 12," the platform tweeted on Monday morning. medical appointments.

Prime Minister Jean Castex has already set the next target at 50 million first-time vaccines at the end of August.

- "Public health tool" -

The health pass "is a public health tool", argued on LCI Professor Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, head of the infectious diseases department at Henri-Mondor hospital and vaccine expert at the Haute Autorité de Santé.

"It is necessarily bad because there are restrictions but it is essential because we are still in a critical situation," he said.

# photo2

it entered into force last week in "places of recreation and culture" gathering more than 50 people.

Except for 12-17 year olds, exempt from health passes until September 30, according to the agreement reached on Sunday between deputies and senators.

Its extended version must be applied "at the beginning of August" to cafes, restaurants, fairs and trade shows, as well as to planes, trains, long-distance coaches and medical establishments except in emergencies.

And in shopping centers, but only on the decision of the prefects in the event of serious risk of contamination.

Asked about the salary suspensions for staff refusing the measures, government spokesman Gabriel Attal welcomed on RTL the "progressivity" of the sanctions provided for in the text, while the government had initially planned a "dismissal" for this category of employees.

In addition, people tested positive for Covid-19 must be placed in isolation for a non-renewable period of ten days in the place of accommodation they determine.

- "Irresponsibility" and "egoism" of the "antivax" -

From Polynesia, Emmanuel Macron had launched this weekend "a very strong message" for vaccination and had castigated "irresponsibility" and "selfishness" of "antivax", after the new demonstrations on Saturday.

The health pass is "better than confinement," agreed the now right-wing presidential candidate, Valérie Pécresse.

"Civil disobedience is bitch," she ruled on RMC / BFMTV, in reference to demonstrations and calls from certain deputies, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), to "disobey".

According to key figures communicated on Sunday by Public Health France, the health situation remains generally stable despite the skyrocketing cases of contamination for about two weeks (16,167 new cases on Sunday).

Hospitals had 6,843 Covid-19 patients with 92 new 24-hour admissions, of which 886 were in critical care departments.

"There are going to be people who are going to be hospitalized. To what extent will it clog up the health system? We don't know. (But) what must also not be forgotten is that the health, he begins to be tired ", recalled Professor Jean-Daniel Lelièvre.

© 2021 AFP