- Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is now required to enter cafés, restaurants, and other public spaces in France. Could this help the United States contain its ongoing pandemic?
- Vaccine passports have been in use in the United States as early as the late 19th century.
- However, today, vaccine passports or similar credentials are likely to remain voluntary.
Starting in August, anyone in France entering a café, restaurant, shopping center, or hospital, or taking a long-distance train, will have to show a special COVID-19 health pass, President Emmanuel Macron announced on July 12, 2021.
The increased restrictions in public spaces are aimed at containing the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant in the country.
The health pass — known officially as the EU Digital COVID Certificate — shows whether a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a recent negative test result, or recovered from COVID-19.
Anyone over the age of 12 will also be required to show the pass to visit a movie theater, museum, live theater, theme park, or cultural center starting July 21.
Within 48 hours of Macron’s announcement, more than 2.2 million vaccination appointments were booked online, according to a tweet from Our World in Data’s Edouard Mathieu.
But many French citizens took to the streets to protest the new rules, saying they encroached on their freedoms and discriminated against the unvaccinated, according to Reuters.
To date, France has fully vaccinated almost 40 percent of its population.
The United States is facing a similar surge of the Delta variant, with a similar vaccination rate. Is the country ready for Macron-style vaccine requirements?
Source: healthline