Macron orders French healthcare workers to get jab

PARIS: In a televised address on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered all French health care workers to get vaccinated by Sept. 15 and urged all people in French territories to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

The Delta variant is driving France's virus infections back up again, just as the country kicked off summer vacation season after a long-awaited reopening process. Some 40% of France's population is fully vaccinated.

"The country is facing a strong resumption of the epidemic touching all our territory," Macron said, speaking against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower.

Most European governments have shied away from mandating vaccinations.

But after tens of thousands of people died in French nursing homes with the virus, Macron said vaccination is essential for all health care workers, nursing home workers, and workers or volunteers who care for the elderly or ailing at home.

In France, vaccines are widely available for anyone 12 and over. But interest ebbed in recent weeks because of vaccine hesitancy, a sense that the virus is no longer a threat, and because some people decided to put off their shots until after a summer vacation.

Demand started rising again over the weekend as people braced for Macron's announcements.

Meanwhile, French restaurants and bars are thriving again, the Tour de France is drawing tightly packed crowds across the country, and Hollywood stars are posing arm-in-arm and mask-free on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

France's virus infections started rising again two weeks ago, and health service SOS Medecins has registered a slight rise in demand for emergency virus treatment.

The number of people in French hospitals and intensive care units has been declining for weeks, but doctors predict it too will rise when the increase in delta variant infections hits vulnerable populations, as it has in Britain and Spain.