At the end of a sleepless night marked by bitter debates, the National Assembly adopted this Friday, July 23 at first reading the new anti-Covid bill which provides for the controversial extension of the health pass and the vaccination obligation for caregivers.
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The deputies voted for this 9th anti-Covid text since March 2020 by 117 votes for and 86 against.
It is now in the hands of the senators who must examine it from this Friday for a final adoption that the executive wishes to record by the end of the weekend to counter the skyrocketing of the epidemic. due to the spread of the Delta variant.
Here are the main measures of the text:
The extended health pass
According to the first article of the bill, the health pass will concern cafes and restaurants, fairs and exhibitions, other leisure activities, and will be necessary for a stay in Corsica or in an overseas territory. .
It has also been extended to hospitals, non-emergency patients as well as visitors to health establishments or retirement homes.
Access to public transport for long distances, such as air and train, is also targeted.
The implementing measures will be fixed by decree.
However, the fine which provided for five years' imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros for the fraudulent use of a health pass has been removed.
12-17 people affected by the health pass from September 30
Minors aged 12 to 17 will also be affected by the health pass from September 30, 2021. Indeed, due to the opening of vaccination for this category on June 15, they have not yet had the time to acquire a complete vaccination schedule.
Expansion of the solitary confinement regime
As soon as a positive result of a virological screening test or a medical examination demonstrating contamination with Covid-19 is communicated, a measure of placement in isolation will be instituted for a non-renewable period of ten days in the place of accommodation declared during the examination.
The measure will be placed under the control of the judge of freedoms and detention, and the isolation can therefore be controlled by the police, as is currently the case for people returning to French territory after a passage through a country classified on the red list.
The person who does not respect this measure of isolation will then be exposed to a fine in the amount of 135 euros.
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Vaccination obligation for caregivers, firefighters, etc.
The vaccination obligation is extended to caregivers, firefighters or professionals working with the elderly, there was almost a consensus in the Assembly.
Articles 5 to 8 of the bill are inspired by pre-existing vaccination obligations against several diseases (hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis).
Read also: Can antivaxes invoke the Kouchner law against the vaccine obligation?
More specifically, according to the bill, the obligation will apply “
to persons carrying out their activities in health and medico-social establishments and services and in various types of collective housing for the elderly or disabled, as well as '' to health personnel working outside these establishments and services, to professionals employed at home for beneficiaries of the personalized autonomy allowance or the disability compensation service, to personnel of the fire and rescue services, to members of approved civil security associations as well as to people carrying out medical transport activities
”.
The only exception to this obligation is a medical contraindication.
If the bill is adopted, those concerned will have the possibility, on a temporary basis, of presenting the negative result of a virological screening examination.
But from September 15, 2021, they must have been vaccinated to exercise their activity.
"
Failure to comply with these requirements, they will be prohibited from exercising the activity in question, and the extension of this situation for more than two months may justify their dismissal
", it is still written.
If the employee works without being vaccinated, he is liable to a fine of 10,000 euros and six months' imprisonment.
At the same time, an employer who does not monitor compliance with this obligation will also be liable to a fine of up to 1,500 euros.
If recidivism is noted more than three times in less than thirty days, the penalty may amount to a fine of 9,000 euros and one year of imprisonment.
The departments will be able to take charge of the vaccination of unaccompanied minors, during the evaluation of their minority or when they benefit from social assistance for children.
Read also: Is it legal to fire an employee without a health pass?
The text is now in the hands of the Senate, and could be the subject of a review by a joint committee on Saturday. If MPs and Senators do not agree on the terms, the bill could end up for a second reading in the Assembly.
