France to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for health workers

France is set to make Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory for health workers, French media reported on Monday, ahead of a televised address by the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron.

BFM TV said Mr Macron would also announce the mandatory use of a health pass to attend large scale events or venues, which might be an incentive for people to get a jab.

The online anti-vaccine movement has thrived in France, yet authorities have banked on convincing enough people, including medical staff, to get voluntarily inoculated.

In recent weeks, a slowdown in vaccination rates and a sharp upturn in new infections due to the delta variant has forced the government to rethink its policy for health workers.

France has gone from more than 400,000 first injections per day at the end of May to about 165,000 per day now.

Covid infections fell from 42,000 a day in mid-April to less than 2,000 in late June. But the numbers have crept back up again since late June, at nearly 4,000 per day.

If restrictions were not introduced, France could see up to 20,000 new cases per day by the end of July, epidemiologists have warned.

Mandatory vaccination, although restricted only to health care workers and other professionals who come into contact with vulnerable people, is not widespread in Europe and Mr Macron had previously ruled it out for France.

Additional reporting by agencies.