??????? France opts to "marginalize" unvaccinated people: is it a good idea?

On Saturday 24 July 2021,?more than 160,000 people?took to the streets across France to protest against the decision of?Emmanuel Macron's government to require a "COVID passport" for vaccinated people to access bars, restaurants, entertainment venues and even intercity public transportation startingin?August.

The measure is intended to?boost vaccination?in a country where it has been slowing down lately due to a lack of people?willing to get vaccinated. However, many French people, both those for and against vaccines against the Covid-19 virus, have seen it as a kind of "apartheid" against people who choose not to be vaccinated, for one reason or another.

The protests, where shouts of "no to the health dictatorship" could be heard, have caused major altercations.?

Perhaps in these cases the ideal scenario would be to educate through information and awareness campaigns. But, of course, the problem arises when this "pedagogy" fails or is not sufficient to mobilize the population.

For the time being, the announcement of the measure has had?an immediate effect?on the number of vaccine doses inoculated per day, apparently bringing France out of stagnation.

However, what many are asking is... is individual freedom?a reasonable price?to pay to achieve vaccination objectives? The debate goes on.

Why is it important?

The?urgency?to reach vaccination targets, initially set at?70% of the European population?with a complete pattern, is pushing many national and regional governments across the continent to take?exceptional measures, many of them of dubious legality, and that?clash with individual freedoms. In Spain, for example, there are already autonomous communities such as?Galicia?and?the Canary Islands?where the EU "Covid passport" is required in order to be able to?consume inside?catering establishments.

The problem is that throughout the pandemic, there have been constant?legal overreaches, which given the current situation, in which vaccination has caused very few deaths, may have?little justification.