Who said that protests get nowhere? Mass protests have led to French president macron backing down on his former proposal of having mandatory vaccine passports for entry into shopping malls, restaurants bars, hospitals, bars, cafés and access public transport. Covid passports are now only required for malls with a surface area of more than 20,000 square metres.
“French President Emmanuel Macron has been forced to back down on imposing mandatory vaccine passports for entry to shopping malls after volatile nationwide protests.
As we highlighted last week, Macron’s announcement that proof or vaccination or a negative test would be required to visit shopping malls, restaurants bars, hospitals, bars, cafés and access public transport sparked immediate demonstrations.
Those continued over the weekend, with around 114,000 people participating in protests in major cities like Nantes, where police again used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
“In Lyon, the police arrested nine demonstrators while in Lans-en-Vercors, a vaccination centre was ransacked on Saturday morning,” reports the Express.
The scenes prompted Macron to have to walk back at least part of the measures, with COVID passes now only required for malls with a surface area of more than 20,000 square meters.
“Business leaders are worried and I want to reassure them: We will show understanding,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the media.
As we previously documented, under the draconian law, people in France who enter a bar or restaurant without a COVID pass face 6 months in jail, while business owners who fail to check their status face a 1 year prison sentence and a €45,000 fine.
As in the UK, where vaccine passports will become mandatory for nightclubs, larger venues and potentially even pubs after that, a two tear medical apartheid is being created under which those who don’t take the jab will remain under de facto lockdown indefinitely.’
And it is not just the French staging a Covid revolt, but Italians too, protesting about mandatory vaccine passports.
https://summit.news/2021/07/22/italians-hit-the-streets-to-protest-mandatory-vaccine-passports/
"After the Italian government followed other European countries in announcing mandatory vaccine passports, Italians hit the streets to protest the measure, with demonstrators in Turin shouting, “No dictatorship!”
After France and the United Kingdom announced that proof of vaccination would be required to enter some venues, Italy followed suit.
From August 6, Italian authorities will mandate their citizens be enrolled in a “green certification” program which will bar access for the unvaccinated or those who can’t prove a negative COVID test to venues such as “indoor bars and restaurants, go to museums, swimming pools, gyms, theme parks and more,” reports Axios.
Irate Italians in Turin reacted by immediately hitting the streets.
The crowd chanted, “No green pass, no green pass!”, “No dictatorship, no dictatorship!” and “freedom, freedom!” during the demonstration.
The new measures were justified by “a spike in infections driven by the Delta variant,” although the 5,057 new coronavirus infections reported on Thursday are around 10 times lower than the peak in infections the country experienced back in November.
If the protests in Italy are anything like what we’ve seen in France, expect them to become unruly in a hurry.
Although the unrest there forced President Macron to marginally reduce back some of the places where vaccine passports will be required, the list is still lengthy and includes public transport, bars, cafes and shopping centers with a surface area of more than 20,000 square meters.’”