French Police Vaccine Go Raids Empty Paris Cafés
- Macron extends the vaccination certificate to restaurants.
- Those who do not have a passport must expect a fine of 135 €.
- If it is repeated, the fine increases to 9,000 euros.
Today, the government of French President Emmanuel Macron extended the controversial “Pass Sanitaire” mandate to restaurants, including those outdoors, despite the weekend of mass protests across France.
French police have begun entering cafes and restaurants and enforcing vaccination records, which has resulted in many of their tables being empty during the normally busy lunchtime as the French public ate lunch on public benches instead.
French police vaccine passport searches empty Parisian cafes
Restaurant and cafe diners without a passport face a fine of 135 euros (158 US dollars), which would increase to 9,000 euros (10,560 US dollars) for repeated offenses.
At lunchtime, many sidewalk cafes were completely empty, as their regular customers were instead sitting on public benches outside – at least according to a multitude of photos and comments posted on social media.
Social media videos and photos showed outdoor venues with few guests on the Champs Élysées, the main thoroughfare in Paris.
There were photos of empty tables all over town when such places were usually full.
French vaccination pass searches empty Parisian cafes
The famous Grande Brasserie near Bastille Square had a few guests inside but no one outside on the terrace.
The passport introduced by Macron to force vaccinations against Covid-19 has been mandatory since July 21 for entry to museums, cinemas, swimming pools and other venues, some of which have gone on strike in protest.
With an increasing number of COVID-19 cases attributed to the Delta variant of the virus, the French authorities have made every effort to vaccinate everyone. In the meantime, vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna have drastically increased the prices of their vaccines in the European Union.
