The pass has already been required since July 21 to visit cultural venues such as cinemas, theatres and museums. Its extension was approved by France’s Constitutional Council on Thursday.
In one of several protests planned in Paris alone, hundreds marched from the western suburbs to the centre, chanting “freedom!” and “Macron, we don’t want your pass!”.
Wearing a mask, Alexandre Fourez, 34, said he was protesting for the first time and that he had himself recovered from Covid. “The problem with the health pass is that our hand is being forced,” said the marketing employee, adding he “really has difficulty believing its use will be temporary”.
Other protests were planned later in the afternoon across the country including Lille in the north and Toulon on the Mediterranean coast.
– ‘Get vaccinated’ –
The interior ministry said over 200,000 people turned out last weekend and more than 160,000 the weekend before for the protests. Police do not expect the numbers to decrease this weekend.
Although many of the protesters are among those refusing to be vaccinated, some have taken the jabs but object to the principle of the health pass.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said that the pass, which under current rules will be required until November 15, was needed to avoid further restrictions as the country fights the fourth wave of the Covid-19 epidemic.
“It is an additional constraint but a constraint that will allow places to stay open,” he said, while emphasising that there would be a one-week “grace period” for consumers and businesses to get used to the new rules.
Macron, who is still at his holiday residence in the south of France, has in recent days repeatedly taken to the social media platform Tik Tok, popular among young people, to get his message across.
“Get vaccinated. Get vaccinated. Get vaccinated,” Macron said in the latest video Friday. “It’s a question of being a good citizen… our freedom is worth nothing if we infect our friends, neighbours or grandparents. To be free is to be responsible.”
The Le Monde daily said Macron’s decision to show no patience with the protesters had its risks, even for a leader who appears to thrive in confrontation with the street as during the 2018-2019 “yellow vest” protests.
“It is a perilous strategy. Playing with the street is to play with fire,” it said.
The vaccine rollout has gathered steam in France since the health pass plan was announced and the government wants 50 million people to have received at least one jab by the end of August. Almost 55 percent of the population is now double jabbed.
With around 25,000 new infections recorded Friday, cases remain high but stable. Concern remains over overseas territories such as Guadeloupe and Martinique and the Mediterranean coast including Corsica, hit by an influx of holidaymakers.
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© Agence France-Presse
