Unveiling sweeping measures to combat a surge in infections, Emmanuel Macron said on Monday night that vaccination would not be compulsory for the general public for now but stressed that restrictions would focus on those who are not vaccinated.

The president said health workers had to get vaccinated by Sept. 15 or face consequences.

Stanislas Niox-Chateau, who heads Doctolib, one of the country's biggest online websites used to book vaccine appointments, told RMC radio there were record numbers seeking vaccines after the president's announcement.

"Almost a million vaccine appointments have been booked, which means thousands of lives have been saved", Health Minister Olivier Veran said on BFM TV.

Macron said on Monday that a health pass required to attend large-scale events would now be used much more widely, including to enter restaurants, cinemas and theaters.

It will also be required to board long-distance trains and planes from the beginning of August, giving a further incentive for people to get the shot as the summer holiday season kicks in.

A slowdown in vaccination rates and a sharp upturn in new infections due to the highly contagious, now dominant, Delta variant, have forced the government to rethink its strategy.

"September 15 is too late, the virus is doubling every five days. We are talking about low figures which quickly become high. What we want is to avoid an epidemic wave and [get] protection for everyone. We're not taking this decision lightly."

After falling from more than 42,000 per day in mid-April to less than 2,000 per day in late June, the average number of new infections per day in France has crept back up again, standing now at nearly 4,000 per day.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned on Franceinfo radio that the only obstacle to France achieving 6 percent economic growth in 2021 would be an uptick in COVID-19 due to the Delta variant.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Tuesday that more people needed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before restrictions could be lifted, following news that England will scrap nearly all curbs from next week.

England will lift on July 19 the legal requirement to wear masks and for people to socially distance, in what one German official called "a highly risky experiment".

Germany reported 646 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, up from 440 a week ago, with an uptick in the number of cases per 100,000 people over seven days to 6.4 from 4.9.

"The central question is how many people will seek a vaccination," Merkel told a news conference.

"The more people are vaccinated, the more free we will all be again," she said.

A move by France to make vaccinations compulsory for all healthcare workers spurred debate in Germany over whether people in some professions should be forced to get a shot, but Merkel said on Tuesday that would not happen.

"There will be no compulsory vaccination," she said, adding that forcing people to get the shot could undermine public trust in the vaccination campaign.

 

Freedom day?

Merkel said that the government would seek to avoid another lockdown of the economy in the autumn but said it was important to maintain social distancing and other measures to prevent infections from spreading, even as more people are vaccinated.

Her comments echoed Alena Buyx, the head of the German Ethics Council, who said earlier on Tuesday that restrictions should not be eased as long as not even half the population is fully vaccinated.

Buyx told broadcaster ZDF that England's move to lift nearly all remaining coronavirus restrictions was a "highly risky experiment".

The United Kingdom is ahead of most other countries with its vaccination campaign, having now administered two shots to about two thirds of its adult population. Germany has fully vaccinated 43 percent of its total population.

However, in the UK too, July 19, once billed as "freedom day", is now being treated with wariness by ministers after a new surge in cases.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte conceded on Monday that coronavirus restrictions had been lifted too soon in the Netherlands and apologized as infections surged to their highest levels of the year.

Markus Soeder, premier of the southern German state of Bavaria, called for another vaccination push, especially among younger people aged 12 to 30, for instance with "vaccinations to go" or drive-in vaccination options.

"Nothing but vaccinations will help," he told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.