President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday a set of measures to encourage the French to get vaccinated, including the use of a vaccination certificate to be able to go to restaurants or cinemas and mandatory vaccination for health personnel.

"We must move towards vaccinating all French people because it is the only way to get back to normal," Macron said in a speech broadcast on television in which he detailed new measures to try to stop the spread of the contagious Delta variant.

From August,  all French people must present a vaccination certificate or a negative covid test to be able to enter restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, hospitals, airplanes, and trains.

From July 21, all people over 12 years old who want to enter "places of leisure and culture" with more than 50 people, such as cinemas or theaters, must present this certificate.

Macron explained that the government's objective was to recognize the "civility" of those vaccinated, and "impose restrictions on the unvaccinated and not on all."

The French president also announced that vaccination against covid-19 will from now on be mandatory for all health personnel, employees of nursing homes, and those who work with fragile people.

"They will have until September 15 to be vaccinated", otherwise "they will not be able to continue working and will not be paid," said the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

"Our country is facing an increase in the epidemic throughout our territory, both in mainland France and abroad," Macron said.

The announcements represent a change of course for the French government after several months of the progressive lifting of restrictions and highlights concerns about the spread of the Delta variant.

The number of new cases in France has soared to about 4,200 a day, according to the latest official figures.

Infections could rise "above 20,000 at the beginning of August if we do not act," Health Minister Olivier Véran warned on Sunday.

The government is also going to hit the wallet to encourage the French to get vaccinated, starting to them pay for PCR unless they are prescribed by a doctor. They are currently free.

The prospect of having to be tested every time they eat or drink outside the home appears to have had an immediate impact on unvaccinated French people, as the website used to book vaccinations reported a significant increase in vaccinations. visits.

The Doctolib website indicated immediately after Macron's speech that there were 20,000 bookings per minute.

Around 35.5 million people - just over half of the French population - have received at least one dose of the covid vaccine, while 27 million have received two.