Protesters hit French streets to fight new vaccine pass
PARIS, France — Thousands demonstrated in cities across France on Saturday against tighter restrictions on people not vaccinated against Covid-19, as parliamentary wrangling continued over a draft law.
But turnout was significantly lower than the previous weekend's demonstrations according to official estimates, with interior ministry estimates putting the national figures at half that of last week.
In the capital Paris, the largest single gathering set off from near the Eiffel Tower, called by far-right anti-EU presidential candidate Florian Philippot.
Other demonstrations harked back to the 2018-19 "yellow vests" protests against President Emmanuel Macron's perceived favouring of the wealthy.
There were also marches in major cities including Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lille.
People in the crowd chanted "no to the vaccine" or "freedom for Djokovic", seizing on the case of men's tennis number one Novak Djokovic, who is fighting the Australian government to compete unvaccinated in next week's Grand Slam Australian Open.
"Novak is kind of our standard-bearer at the moment," demonstrator Pascal told AFP in Bordeaux.
He was marching alongside parents with children at a tennis club in the western city, where he said the coach risked losing his job for refusing vaccination.
'It's Nazism, it's apartheid'
In Paris, demonstrators bore French and regional flags, with banners bearing messages like "it's not the virus they want to control, it's you".
"It's Nazism, it's apartheid, I haven't been jabbed and I'm against vaccines in general," said Claire, a demonstrator in her sixties.
Two others, Laurence and Claire, told AFP they were vaccinated "but we're against the pass for teenagers. We don't see why they're being vaccinated because they aren't in danger".
According to figures gathered by the police and released by the interior ministry Saturday, the turnout was 54,000 across France, compared to 105,200 a week ago.
Demonstrators had hoped to keep up the pressure after Macron's declaration earlier this month that he wanted to "piss off" the unvaccinated with new restrictions until they accepted a coronavirus shot.
The latest stage of that policy came into force Saturday. The government-issued "health pass" has been deactivated for tens of thousands of people who have not received a booster vaccination within seven months of their first course of shots.
The pass is required for access for everything from bars and restaurants to cinemas and other public buildings, as well as for travel on France's high-speed rail network.
'Vaccine pass'
The government is working to transform the health pass into a "vaccine pass", under a bill currently being debated in parliament, which will require proof of vaccination.
Negative coronavirus tests or proof of recovery from a bout with Covid-19 will no longer be enough.
The tougher measures have been pushed hard by the government as it faces a wave of infections with the faster-spreading Omicron variant.
On Friday, 330,000 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in France, with an average of almost 300,000 over the preceding week. But the pressure on hospitals has not grown at the same pace.
Health Minister Olivier Veran has said Omicron is less dangerous and patients ill with the variant need shorter hospital stays.
MPs in the National Assembly passed the vaccine pass bill to the Senate upper house in the early hours of Saturday.
It is likely to be finally passed Sunday after back-and-forth between the two houses over questions such as the minimum age for the pass and whether proprietors should be empowered to check customers' identities. — with AFP bureaus
As the pandemic, and quarantine restrictions around it, stretches on, some sectors have revived protests against lockdowns and, in some jursidictions, mandatory vaccination.
Photo: Demonstrators march during a "Men in Black" protest against new government Covid-19 restrictions in Copenhagen, Denmark, November 20, 2021.
A 50-year-old German man was jailed for life Tuesday for shooting dead a petrol station cashier because he was angry about being told to wear a mask while buying beer.
The September 2021 murder in the western town of Idar-Oberstein shocked Germany, which saw a vocal anti-mask and anti-vaccine movement emerge in response to the government's coronavirus restrictions.
The row started when 20-year-old student worker Alex W. asked the man to put on a mask inside the shop, as required in all German stores at the time. After a brief argument, the man left.
The perpetrator -- identified only as Mario N. -- returned about an hour and a half later, this time wearing a mask. But as he bought his six-pack of beer to the till, he took off his mask and another argument ensued.
He then pulled out a revolver and shot the cashier in the head point-blank. -- AFP
Riot police clashed with demonstrators outside New Zealand's parliament on Wednesday, using pepper spray and making dozens of arrests as they moved to end a long-running protest against coronavirus restrictions.
Hundreds of officers took to Wellington's streets before dawn to clear roads around parliament that have been clogged by protesters' vehicles for more than three weeks.
Ending a previous light-touch approach, officers with riot shields advanced on protesters yelling "Move! Move!", pulling down tents, and deploying a large forklift to remove cars and campervans to vehicle transporters.
Demonstrators who resisted were pepper-sprayed, and fighting erupted.
Police reported some protesters armed with pitchforks, but said they "gained significant ground" during the operation, which continued into Wednesday afternoon.
"We've seen tactics (from protesters) today including spraying fire extinguishers at the police line, the throwing of paint, early on we saw weapons," commissioner Andrew Coster said.
He said three officers received minor injuries and there were 36 arrests.
The force warned Wellington residents and office workers to steer clear of the area. — AFP
Several thousand people rallied in Madrid on Sunday in support of political rising star Isabel Diaz Ayuso, currently riding high in the polls after she helped open up the capital’s bars and restaurants amid pandemic fatigue.
Supporters took to the streets to back the party's head of the Madrid region after she claimed the national leadership of the main opposition conservative Popular Party tried to get rid of her.
Gathering outside the PP's headquarters, they waved flags and chanted slogans, calling for the head of the party to resign. — AFP
Ottawa interim police Chief Steve Bell said Saturday significant "progress" had been made to clear protesters from the Canadian capital but that the operation was "not over."
"Today we've made some very important progress in safely removing this unlawful protest from our streets," Bell told a news conference.
But, he added, "This operation is still moving forward, it is not over and it will take more time." — AFP
Canadian police issued an ultimatum Wednesday to protesters who've been choking Ottawa streets for 20 days to leave the capital, as provincial and US state leaders called for an end to the cross-border vaccine requirement that sparked the trucker-led movement.
Officials, meanwhile, announced a negotiated peaceful end to the last of several recent blockades by protesters of border crossings between Canada and the United States.
"You must leave the area now," Ottawa police said in a notice distributed to truckers outside parliament.
Anyone blocking streets or assisting others in doing so will be arrested and face charges, as well as fines and seizures of their trucks, the statement said.
Police also warned that anyone charged or convicted for taking part in the illegal demonstration may, in addition to criminal penalties, be barred from traveling to the United States. -- AFP
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