Until when will we have to live with the compulsory health pass to go to a restaurant, to a museum, or to take the train?
The government wants to be able to impose the precious sesame until July 31, thus "spanning" the presidential campaign.
This is what is provided for in the bill presented in mid-October and adopted by the Assembly in a record time of barely two days.
But this is not to the liking of the right, the majority in the Senate.
The rapporteur of the text, the senator of La Manche Philippe Bas (Les Républicains), tabled several amendments on Monday that go deeply against the wishes of the executive. The major change concerns the extension of the exit regime from the state of health emergency, which would end on February 28 and not on July 31.
This legal framework offers the government an arsenal from which it can draw, including the famous health pass.
It also allows it to declare a real state of health emergency at any time, making it possible to impose even more restrictive measures, such as confinement.
“From the moment we are faced with a derogation from the laws on freedoms and constitutional principles, we only accept it temporarily.
And three and a half months seems to be a good period ”, indicates Philippe Bas to the Parisian.
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The text adopted by the National Assembly forces the government to present to Parliament, "no later than February 15, 2022", a report detailing what measures will have been maintained by then and why, if applicable, it intends to maintain them " on all or part of the territory ”.
Insufficient, in the eyes of the senatorial right.
Threshold of 75% of vaccinated
Even by February 28, the government would no longer have a free hand when it comes to the health pass.
Believing that the objective of encouraging vaccination had been fulfilled, the rapporteur of the text in the Senate intends to set a threshold for vaccination coverage.
Having to present a certificate for many activities of daily living could only be made compulsory in the departments where less than 75% of the population (all ages combined) is fully vaccinated.
As of October 10, this was the case for about half of them, according to Health Insurance.
However, we now know that it is quite possible to be infected if you are fully vaccinated, especially if you have not yet received a booster dose.
The risk is however lower than for a vaccinee, as is the risk of transmitting the virus if one has been infected.
The second criterion for imposing the health pass will be "an active circulation of the virus is observed, measured by a high incidence rate", but without more precise figures.
Inescapable disagreements?
Another provision removes from the text the possibility for school heads to have access to the vaccination status of middle school and high school students.
This measure, desired and ardently defended by the executive, aims to more easily force the only unvaccinated to attend classes at home if a case is positive in their class.
“We exclude any discrimination based on vaccination status,” argues Philippe Bas.
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All these amendments will be examined on Wednesday in committee and then, in all likelihood, the next day in public sitting.
"At this stage of the legislative process, each assembly expresses its own position," agrees the senator.
If the text adopted is different from that issued by the National Assembly, which seems likely, a joint committee bringing together seven deputies and seven senators will be responsible for finding a compromise.
This had happened - with success - last August, during the previous sanitary text.
In the event of failure, the National Assembly will have the last word.
