Protestors continue to rail against France’s COVID-19 measures

Protestors in France on Saturday continued to fight back against new measures that would require citizens to have COVID-19 passes to go to restaurants and others events. 

There were around 160,000 people who gathered to protest a bill being discussed in the Senate that would require COVID-19 passes to get into all restaurants and bars in the country, The Associated Press reported.

It is already mandated for healthcare workers to get the vaccine or be suspended without pay. It is also required for citizens to use COVID-19 passes to get into movie theaters, tourist sites and museums. 

The COVID-19 passes are given to those who are fully vaccinated, have natural immunity from a previous infection or have had a negative coronavirus test within the past 72 hours. 

The protests were mostly peaceful with some protesters shouting “Liberty!” during the gathering.

However, some far-right protesters did become violent with the police as authorities used water cannons and tear gas to disperse some of the crowds, according to the AP.

Demonstrators have been out for more than a week to protest the COVID-19 passes the government says it needs to curb the pandemic. 

Although some are against the passes, there were more than one million vaccine appointments made after the president of the country announced the new measure. 

France has reported almost six million coronavirus cases and more than 111,000 deaths.