French National Assembly adopts vaccine pass law

Paris, Jan 17 (IANS) The French National Assembly, or the lower house of the Parliament, has adopted a law which will transform the health pass into a stricter vaccine pass in a bid to curb the country's surging Covid-19 cases.

The National Assembly on Sunday evening adopted the law by a vote of 215 for and 58 against and after debates and discussions during the past two weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.

The French government hopes to adopt the law as soon as possible after the approval of the Constitutional Council, the country's highest constitutional authority.

Under the new law, negative Covid-19 tests will no longer be valid to gain access to public venues. Bars, restaurants and cafes are allowed to verify the identity of vaccine pass holders when in doubt.

The vaccine pass concerns people over the age of 16. Children between the ages of 12 to 15 are not obliged to have a vaccine pass but must present a health pass.

On Thursday, the French Ministry of Health announced that at least 600,000 people would lose their health pass on Jan. 15 as they have not received their booster shot.

France reported on Thursday 305,322 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours.