A new law passed in France would ban unvaccinated individuals from restaurants, sporting arenas and other public places, according to the Associated Press.
Before the new law, France required proof of vaccination to enter public places, but unvaccinated individuals were allowed in if they show a recent negative test or proof of recent recovery.
Under the law passed by France’s National Assembly on Sunday, everyone over the age of 16 is required to fully vaccinated to enter public places. There are some exceptions for those who recently recovered from COVID-19.
The law also imposes tougher fines for fake passes and allows ID checks to avoid fraud, AP reports.
President Emmanuel Macron hopes the law will protect hospitals amid a surge in COVID cases due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. More than 76% of ICU beds in the country is occupied by COVID patients most of them are unvaccinated.
91% of France’s population is vaccinated.
