Enlarge image
President Macron in Paris on Monday
Photo: Michel Euler / dpa
President Emmanuel Macron has spoken to the French seven times since the beginning of the pandemic, mostly in great detail, often in support of the state and, in spring 2020, with a dramatic undertone. "We are at war, in the war against the virus," he said to make the nation understand the gravity of the situation at the beginning of the pandemic. On Monday evening, exactly 8 p.m., he gave his eighth address - and this was above all pragmatic and noticeably shaped by the fear of not being able to prevent the next, fourth wave, of not having prevented it in time.
"At the hour in which I speak to you, our country is once again confronted with a sharp increase in cases of infection in all regions," Macron said with a serious face into the camera, the Eiffel Tower could be seen behind him.
"If we do not act immediately, our hospitals will be overburdened again." The government's strategy in the past has also been to "constantly seek a balance between protecting citizens and their freedom."
That still applies today, says Macron.
Then he called on citizens to use the only effective weapon there was in the fight against the virus - vaccination.
"The more we vaccinate, the less space we give the virus," says Macron.
He then announced a compulsory vaccination requirement for medical nurses in hospitals, old people's homes and all those who work in private elderly care.
This professional group in France had so far proven to be particularly skeptical of vaccinations.
Nurses will now remain until 15 September time to get vaccinated.
Afterwards, there will be controls and, in the event of non-compliance, penalties for those affected, Macron announced.
But he also wants to push the rest of the French into the vaccination centers with gentle pressure.
"We will recognize responsible citizenship and make the restrictions felt harder by those who have so far refused to be vaccinated."
The President wants to achieve this by expanding the use of the “pass sanitaire”, the health passport. a completed vaccination previously gone Covid19 infections and negative PCR tests were in the document so far, digital or analog, entered. To date, the »pass sanitaire« only had to be shown for cross-border trips and events for over 1000 people. From the beginning of August it will also be required throughout France for visiting bars and restaurants, for traveling on trains and airplanes and for events with over 50 people, including cinemas and theaters. Macron emphasized that the new regulations would apply to both customers and employees of these establishments.
And the president announced another innovation: From October, the PCR tests, which were previously free, will be paid for.
"We want to encourage them to get vaccinated and not get tested continuously." There is a reason for the policy of gentle pressure.
Over 3000 new infections per day
The vaccination rates in France are currently at just under 53 percent for the first injection, almost 40 percent of the French both immunizations behind. That is not enough to put a stop to the delta variant. Many vaccination centers have been waiting for visitors in recent weeks, a kind of glass ceiling seemed to have been reached. Above all, many young French people and many over 60 years old proved to be particularly resistant to vaccinations. And as a map of the greater Paris area showed at the weekend, it is above all the higher-income and better-educated citizens who get vaccinated. The French would live in the land of the Enlightenment and the researcher Louis Pasteur, according to Macron. "If science makes it possible for us to protect ourselves, then we have to do this," he appealed to his compatriots.
A possible reversal of the easing had been on the horizon for several days, and the situation then worsened at the weekend. There are currently over 3000 cases of new infections per day in France, which corresponds to an increase of 55.9 percent within just one week. A majority of these are attributed to the delta variant. "If we do nothing now," warned Health Minister Olivier Véran two days ago, "we have the beginning of August 20,000 cases a day."
Several tweets from one of the country's most knowledgeable Covid19 data collectors, the 24-year-old engineer Guillaume Rozier, founder of the Covid Tracker website, confirmed the government's worst fears over the weekend: A great new wave was beginning to reach France, wrote Rozier. Since October there has not been such an increase in percentage terms. The incidence value is particularly high among 20 to 29 year olds with an incidence of 89. “But unlike India, we have a weapon, vaccination. What if we made full use of it? ”Asked Rozier.
That too will have contributed to Macron's U-turn, who hesitated for a long time to use the "pass sanitaire" as a leverage.
Actually, he had hoped, after a year and a half of externally determined crisis policy, to finally dominate the stage again with political issues.
Because the pandemic had forcibly sent the reformer Macron into a permanent domestic political lockdown.
A few weeks ago they were still quite optimistic at the Elysée Palace: the numbers that came from hospitals across the country sounded better than expected;
the incidence fell gratifyingly quickly.
A possible fourth wave of the pandemic due to the delta variant was not forecast until autumn, if at all.
A largely carefree summer seemed to lie ahead of the French and the government.
People around him said that the president was even considering a new version of the government's controversial pension reform, which led to weeks of strikes in December 2019. The reform envisaged completely reorganizing the pension system that had existed for decades and raising the comparatively low retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years. The pandemic had made all these plans to naught in the spring 2020th The government did not cancel the reform, but postponed it for the time being.
But now there are presidential elections in nine months and the election campaign will take stock. And so last week Macron received union leaders and entrepreneurs at the Élysée to check the mood for a more moderate version of the reform. But then the new numbers came and dashed any hopes of being able to escape the dominant Covid 19 issue in the short term. He would still stick to the pension reform project, he announced this evening towards the end of his speech - as soon as the pandemic was under control and the circumstances would allow it. He also presented a special income for young people who are unemployed and without training in prospect. The project will start after the long summer vacation.
"We will continue to reform our country," Macron promised.
"We have a rendezvous with our future in autumn."
Even during the televised speech, the Doctolib website, through which vaccination appointments can be booked, threatened to collapse.
In a matter of minutes, the French reserved 17,000 new vaccinations.
The president had previously said that immunization is the only way to return to a normal life.
In principle, that was nothing new.
But some seem to have really understood it only tonight.