France to Require Health Passes in Public Places
Beginning today, France will require citizens to carry health passes in order to access restaurants, cafes and long-distance travel.
The health pass system is already required for cinemas, museums and other cultural venues with a capacity of 50 or more people and requires citizens to show proof of vaccination, a recent negative COVID-19 test or recovery from COVID-19.
These measures—in addition to recently introduced vaccine mandates for healthcare workers, firefighters and other public workers that require vaccination by September 15—have prompted widespread protests across France, the most recent drawing more than 230,000 protestors. As such, expect these new measures to prompt even larger protests, likely expanding to include restaurant and café owners whose businesses will be most affected by the measures.
Government mandates will anger some small business owners and their impact on the service industry is likely to be noticeable. While roughly 54% of French citizens are fully vaccinated and more than 7 million more citizens have received at least one vaccination, roughly 35% of the country has yet to receive a shot. As such, these people will be largely prevented from dining out, likely further damaging the service industry until infection rates fall.
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