Days after French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about his intention to “disturb the lives” of the unvaccinated, these people, along with those opposed to the vaccination certificate, took to the streets in several cities.
The Ministry of the Interior announced that 105,200 people participated in the demonstrations, four times more than the number in the last demonstrations organized on December 18.
The Ministry of the Interior indicated that three demonstrations took place in Paris, on Saturday, that brought together 18,000 people, in addition to 87,200 others throughout France. Ten policemen were wounded and 34 people were arrested.
The largest Paris demonstration gathered thousands of people at the invitation of the “Patriots” party led by the far-right presidential candidate Florian Filippo, to return the level of movements to what it was in the summer when the health permit was announced.
“Macron, we don’t want your permission” and “Don’t hurt the children”, chanted the demonstrators, many of whom carried the French flag.
“If the law is passed, we will no longer be able to go to school, we will not be able to work anymore,” said a 17-year-old, approaching the ideas of Filippo, who does not want to “inject himself with a trial vaccine.”
A 57-year-old librarian, who said she leans to the far left, expressed her protest against the “certificate of vaccination, which made it impossible for a mandatory vaccination to be disguised,” considering that vaccines have “side effects.”
The Paris demonstration took the form of a political gathering, as several far-right figures attended to offer their support.
Marion Marechal, niece of the National Rally candidate for the presidential elections, Marine Le Pen, sent a message of support via video.
Jean-Frédéric Poisson, a very conservative figure, Eric Zemmour, another far-right presidential candidate, and Steve Bannon, a former adviser to former US President Donald Trump, also provided support.
A police source said that the atmosphere of this gathering was characterized by “tension”, similar to the one organized in the Boulevard de L’Hopital, southeast of Paris, at the initiative of the “yellow vests”, a social movement that shook France in 2018 and 2019 and restored levels of mobilization similar to those that had been previously. Saw it at the beginning of summer.
“Fertility for respect”
The statements of Macron, who said this week that he wanted to “disturb the lives” of those who were not vaccinated, sparked a political storm, coinciding with the National Assembly’s narrow approval, Thursday, of a bill converting a health certificate into a vaccination certificate.
The text is due to be presented to the Senate next week.
In Lyon (east), a small crowd of protesters of all ages gathered, many of them not wearing masks. During the demonstration, slogans were raised denouncing “social apartheid” and jeers were booed against Macron.
In Bordeaux (southwest), 500 to 1,000 people demonstrated, according to the police, and 9,000 according to the organizers, despite the rain, shouting slogans in response to the positions of the French president. “Trust lost” and “When will we see a vaccine for respect?” read on banners raised during the movement.
A protester from Bordeaux who was not vaccinated against Covid-19 “but is not against it”, said she was demonstrating “for the first time in her life” because the president’s statements “overflowed the cup”.
Clashes took place between demonstrators and security forces in Montpellier (south, 3,700 people) and Toulouse (southwest, 2,200 people), according to the authorities.
The peak of the mobilization of opponents of the health restrictions was recorded on the seventh of August, with the participation of 237,000 demonstrators throughout France.
In all, 79 percent of French people received a single dose of the vaccine, while 77.1 percent completed their vaccinations. More than 28.2 million people received the booster dose.
And heavy pressure continued, Saturday, on French hospitals, with the Public Health Department counting more than 3,800 people with Covid in intensive care (more than 243 in 24 hours).
The frequency of injuries did not decrease, as 303,669 new injuries were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Since its outbreak began in the spring of 2020, the virus has killed at least 125,349 people. On Saturday, 143 new deaths were recorded.