This is the 9th law against the "covid" since March 2020. At the end of a sleepless night marked by bitter debates, the National Assembly adopted shortly after 5:30 am this Friday, at first reading, the new bill anti-Covid law which provides for the controversial extension of the health pass and the vaccination obligation for caregivers.
Read alsoThe sanitary pass puts the Assembly in turmoil
The deputies voted in first reading this 9th anti-Covid text since March 2020 by 117 votes for and 86 against.
This is now in the hands of the senators who must examine it from Friday for a final adoption that the executive wishes to record by the end of the weekend in the face of the skyrocketing of the epidemic due to the propagation of the Delta variant.
400 amendments between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.
A little earlier in the night, the deputies had adopted by 132 votes against 106, shortly before 12:40 am, article 1 of the bill for the management of the health crisis which extends the scope of the health pass, presented by the government. as the best weapon in the face of the rebound of the Covid-19 epidemic.
But then there were still 400 amendments still to be considered ...
Tense debates
The passes of arms between the government and the oppositions notably had as a climax Thursday a provision of this text opening the way to a dismissal for establishment workers receiving the public who would refuse to obtain a health pass (route complete vaccine or recent test).
The bill also provides for compulsory isolation for the sick.
The government passed amendments to avoid loss of income for lone workers due to their contamination.
At the very end of the discussions around 5 a.m., the government came back on two amendments voted during the examination of the text with a new vote which notably remitted the obligation of the health pass for non-urgent patients or visitors in the hospitals. health establishments and retirement homes.
A contested project
Strongly contested by a fringe of public opinion, the bill reflects the announcements of July 12 by Emmanuel Macron.
If the vaccination obligation extended to caregivers, firefighters or even professionals working with the elderly is almost unanimous, this is not the case for the extension of the health pass (complete vaccination course or recent test), planned for at the beginning of August in coffee shops, the object of strong criticism from the left to the extreme right.
With nearly 1,200 amendments tabled on the bill, the debates were anything but appeased in the hemicycle where left and right denounced a discussion started since Wednesday afternoon, at a forced march.
Eyes riveted on rising contamination curves, the executive has continued to urge deputies to validate his bill in the face of the "seriousness of the situation" according to the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.
Nearly 22,000 cases have been identified in 24 hours, according to figures from Public Health France published Thursday evening, the highest since May 5.
