London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

Thousands protest against France COVID vaccine pass

Thousands protest against France COVID vaccine pass

People took to the streets as Parliament is expected to pass a bill tightening restrictions on those not vaccinated.

Protesters have taken to the streets in cities across France to reject a law that would see the implementation of tighter restrictions on people not vaccinated against COVID-19, as Parliament continues to debate the draft bill.

Thousands took part in demonstrations on Saturday, with and array of disparate political groups rallying together. In the capital, Paris, where the largest single gathering set off from near the Eiffel Tower, the protest was called by anti-EU presidential candidate Florian Philippot.

Other protests harked back to the “yellow vests” movement of 2018-19 against President Emmanuel Macron’s planned economic reforms, and there were further gatherings in big cities including Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lille.

People in the crowd chanted “no to the vaccine” or “freedom for Djokovic”, seizing on the case of world men’s tennis number one Novak Djokovic, who is fighting the Australian government to compete unvaccinated in the Grand Slam Australian Open.

“Novak is kind of our standard-bearer at the moment,” demonstrator Pascal told the AFP news agency in Bordeaux.

He was marching alongside parents with children at a tennis club in the western city, where he said the coach risks losing his job for refusing vaccination.

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”.

Two demonstrators, 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”.

While officials had not published an estimate of nationwide turnout by late afternoon, police or local authorities counted about 1,000 each in Lyon, Nantes, Bordeaux and Marseille.

Demonstrators were hoping to outstrip the 105,000 who hit the streets last weekend, some possibly mobilised by Macron’s declaration in a newspaper interview that he wanted to “p**s off” the unvaccinated with new restrictions until they accepted a coronavirus shot.

Members in the National Assembly cleared the vaccine pass bill to the upper house in the early hours of Saturday. The Senate is likely to pass it finally on Sunday after a back-and-forth between the two houses over questions like the minimum age for the pass and whether proprietors should be empowered to check customers’ identities.

People attend a demonstration called by the French nationalist party Les Patriotes (The Patriots) on Trocadero Plaza in Paris, France


Vaccine pass’


In the first step, a measure came into force on Saturday that will deactivate the government-issued “health pass” for tens of thousands of people who have not received a booster vaccination within seven months of their first course of shots.

The pass, which grants access to public spaces like bars and restaurants, will be transformed into a “vaccine pass” under the law currently being debated in Parliament, meaning proof of having the jab will be required.

So far people have been able to keep their pass valid with negative coronavirus tests.

“It was urgent” to get jabbed, 32-year-old Juan Fernandez told AFP immediately after getting his shot on Saturday morning. “When you go out, you need the health pass every time, that’s the main reason I did it.”

The tougher measures have been pushed hard by the government as it faces a wave of infections with the faster-spreading Omicron variant.

Protests in Austria


Meanwhile, in the Austrian capital, Vienna, the government’s plan to introduce mandatory COVID-19 inoculations for all next month has come under renewed pressure as thousands of protesters took to the streets to rally against the move.

“The government must go!” crowds chanted at one rally in central Vienna in what has become a routine Saturday event. Parliament is scheduled to vote next week on the issue, which has polarised the country as coronavirus cases surge.

A poll for Profil magazine found 51 percent of those surveyed oppose making jabs mandatory from February, of whom 34 percent were against compulsory vaccination in general and 17 percent wanted to wait. The survey found 45 percent of Austrians favoured compulsory vaccination starting in February.



Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×