France ups pressure on unvaccinated amid record infections

PARIS (AP) — France’s government is forging ahead with efforts to increase pressure on unvaccinated people to get coronavirus jabs. The country reported 208,000 new cases of COVID-19 infection. It’s a record fueled by the highly-contagious omicron variant. Health Minister Olivier Veran on Wednesday defended a government plan to allow only the fully vaccinated to enjoy continued access to places such as restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums and sports arenas. The pass will also be required for long-distance trains and domestic flights. Veran said that the record number of infections means that more than two French people are testing positive every second for COVID-19.