France Faces New Wave Of Pandemic, President Macron Opens Opportunity To Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination

Presiden Prancis Emmanuel Macron. (Wikimedia Commons / Kremlin.ru / Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation)

JAKARTA - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday it was possible a COVID-19 vaccine would eventually become mandatory in France, but said it was not a priority for now.

Like its European neighbors and other countries around the world, France is scrambling to find ways to contain the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. France's seven-day average of new infections is at its highest level since November 2020.

Asked in an interview with television stations TF1 and LCI whether COVID-19 vaccination could become mandatory in France, President Macron said: "This hypothesis exists."

But he was quick to add, France was 'almost there' in practice. With nearly 90 percent of eligible people in France already vaccinated, France is not far from the acceptance rate that would be achieved by making vaccination mandatory, he said.

First and foremost, he encourages those who haven't been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get it done.

"There are a little more than 5 million of our citizens who are not vaccinated and therefore really, I ask them to be held accountable, because they are not protected and we are seeing a lot of cases today in hospitals who have not been vaccinated," President Macron said. December.

"Vaccination, vaccination, vaccination, this is the first pillar," he stressed in the interview recorded on Sunday and broadcast on Wednesday.

"For children aged 5 to 11 years, vaccination is expected, but it's up to the parents," he said.

President Macron refused to rule out imposing new restrictions over Christmas, saying "one should always be careful in such matters."

He also said he expected hospitals to be under a lot of pressure during the holidays, due to the high number of COVID-19 cases.

To note, France is considering introducing mandatory PCR testing for all travelers entering the country from the UK, where infections linked to the Omicron variant are soaring, a French government source said earlier on Wednesday.

While no decision has yet been made, the source said, President Emmanuel Macron will convene senior ministers for the health 'defense council' on Friday.

The latest figures released on Wednesday showed new COVID-19 infections in the UK hit their highest daily level since the start of the 2020 pandemic, with more than 78,000 reported.