PARIS (Reuters) -The French government is set to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for health workers, BFM TV reported on Monday ahead of a televised speech to the nation by President Emmanuel Macron.
France has an entrenched anti-vaccination movement but authorities had banked on convincing enough people, including medical staff, to voluntarily get inoculated and curb the spread of the virus.
However, a slowdown in vaccination rates as the summer holidays approach and a sharp upturn in new infections due to the now-dominant Delta variant have forced the government to rethink.
BFM TV also reported Macron would say a health pass required to attend large scale events or to go clubbing will now be required for some other events, giving further incentive for people to get the jab.
France has gone from an average of more than 400,000 first injections per day at the end of May to about 165,000 per day now.
Macron is due to speak at 8pm local time (1800 GMT).
(Reporting by GV De Clercq and Ingrid Melander; editing by Richard Lough)
