Health

France’s parliament approves COVID-19 vaccine pass

France's parliament gave final approval on Sunday to the government's latest measures to tackle the COVID-19 virus, including a vaccine pass contested by anti-vaccine protestors.

Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted 215 in favour to 58 against, paving the way for the law to enter force in the coming days.

For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.

The new law, which had a rough ride through parliament with opposition parties finding some of its provisions too tough, will require people to have a certificate of vaccination to enter public places like restaurants, cafes, cinemas and long-distance trains.

Currently, unvaccinated people can enter such places with the results of a recent negative COVID-19 test. Nearly 78 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the Health Ministry on Saturday.

President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to seek a second term in an April presidential election, told Le Parisien paper this month that he wanted to “piss off” unvaccinated people by making their lives so complicated they would end up getting the COVID vaccine.

Thousands of anti-vaccine protestors demonstrated in Paris and some other cities on Saturday against the law, but their numbers were down sharply from the week before, just after Macron's remarks.

France is in the grips of its fifth COVID-19 wave with daily new cases regularly hitting record levels over 300,000. Nonetheless the number of serious cases putting people in ICU wards is much lower than the first wave in March-April 2020.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

More than 100,000 march in France against COVID-19 vaccine requirements

France sixth country with more than 10 million COVID-19 infections

Health

First Person: Women in Madagascar too ashamed to seek help giving birth

Some of the poorest women in an underdeveloped region south of Madagascar are “too ashamed” to seek the maternal health services they need, according to a midwife working in a health centre supported by United Nations agencies, but that may be about to change.

Health

Peace or war, midwives keep delivering

Millions of lives each year rely on the expertise and care of midwives and yet a global shortage is squeezing the profession like never before, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNPFA said on Sunday, marking the International Day of the Midwife.

Health

Europe: Report highlights direct link between pandemic and childhood obesity

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased obesity in school-aged children in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) office for the region said in a new report issued on Wednesday, sounding the alarm for action.