At the dawn of the Holidays, as a third coronavirus wave is already on its way, on Twitter, this Tuesday December 22, 2020, people are angry. On the #dictaturesanitaire [#sanitarydictature] hashtag, one condemns PM Jean Castex’s bill about the health emergency. This text, presented this Monday December 21, 2020 during the Ministerial Council aims at developing a strategy to manage health crises. According to government spokesman Gabriel Attal, it also aims at preparing the end of health emergency set for April 1, 2021 – for now. The bill can be read here.
But why does it spark a controversy? Objectors to this draft bill rely on the article L.3131-9, No.6 allowing the Prime Minister to ban the access to some places or some activities excluding when presenting a negative test or a preventive treatment follow-up such as vaccine or curative treatment.
“6° The Prime Minister can, when necessary as part of the measures planned from 1° to 50, subordinate trips of people, their access to means of transport or some places, as well as the practice of some activities to the presentation of a screening test establishing the person is not affected nor contaminated, follows a preventive treatment, including injection of a vaccine, or a curative treatment. The decree mentioned in the second paragraph of this Article details the extent of this obligation as well as its implementing provisions in particular as regards the categories of people concerned” L.3131-9, No.6 from bill No.3714
Even though the text does not only mention vaccination as a justification enabling the access to places that could potentially be regulated (highlighted in orange), objectors accuse the government from forcing the French to be vaccinated even though representatives have assured vaccine will not be compulsory in France.
