France: Thousands protest against vaccination, COVID passes

Thousands of people marched around France to protest mandatory vaccinations for health care workers and COVID-19 passes that will be required to enter restaurants and other venues

PARIS -- Thousands of people marched around France on Saturday to protest mandatory vaccinations for health care workers and COVID-19 passes that will be required to enter restaurants and other venues. A march in Paris led by a far-right, anti-vaccine politician drew an usually sizable crowd, swelled by anger over the new virus rules President Emmanuel Macron announced this week. Marchers chanted “Liberty!” and carried signs denouncing a “medical dictatorship” and Macron. Demonstrations also took place in Strasbourg in the east, Lille in the north, Montpellier in the south and elsewhere in France. Macron’s measures are aimed at slowing the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus and protecting hospitals from a new surge of .