Around 45,300 protesters demonstrated against the health pass and other COVID-related regulations for the 13th consecutive Saturday in cities and towns across France, according to the French Ministry of the Interior.
This was slightly less than the 47,935 figure reported for the 2 October edition of the weekly protest, Belga News Agency reports.
Fourteen arrests were made during the latest demonstrations, the Interior Ministry said. Four were in the capital, Paris, where 5,300 persons took to the streets - about the same number as the previous Saturday. The capital protesters took part in two processions.
The demonstration in Strasbourg mobilised about 850 persons, according to the Prefecture. They marched to the cry of “Freedom, no dictatorship,” brandishing placards with slogans such as “France, be worthy, vaccine freedom” and “Better fines and jail than jabs.” That procession included firefighters and health care workers, some of whom bore placards indicating that they had been suspended for not having health passes.
Saturday’s protest against the health measures comes just days before the withdrawal, from 15 October, of reimbursements for COVID-19 tests from people above the age of 18 years who are covered by medical insurance but who are unable to provide proof of vaccination or a medical certificate of vaccine exemption.
COVID-19 has claimed 117,000 lives in France. Over 50.5 million persons there have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
