French President Emmanuel Macron is due to address the country on Monday evening to present new measures against the Delta variant of Covid-19, whose rapid progression is hampering France's emergence from restrictions, reports FRANCE 24.
Vaccination may be made compulsory for health professionals and health pass requirements look set to be extended.
Faced with a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, Macron is expected to announce new measures on Monday to try to prevent a fourth wave from sweeping through French hospitals by the end of July.
The head of state will deliver a live televised address at 8 pm. The main objective of his speech is to define the course for the last 10 months of his five-year presidential term, in particular on reforms such as pensions, and he is also expected to talk about "the good health of the French economy and the importance of recovery".
But Macron will also outline new measures decided at the Élysée Palace during an exceptional virus security meeting Monday morning. He "will talk about the health situation and its evolution" and "the importance of vaccination", according to his staff.
The scientific council is pushing to make vaccination mandatory for certain professions, including health professionals, and extending the use of the coronavirus health pass.
According to the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, if making vaccinations compulsory "was just an option" until now, "today, it is a very probable and legitimate possibility," he said on Sunday in the television and radio programme Grand Rendez-Vous.
The government is working on a draft law containing the new measures, which could be adopted and implemented before the end of July.
Macron's televised address should be similar to the four previous ones since the Covid-19 crisis began a year and a half ago. It comes two and a half months after his last announcement, when he delivered a timetable for the end of lockdown.
"I'm not sure the summer is going to be ruined. But you don't have to be a great clairvoyant to see that things will get tense in August," said a government source, speaking to AFP.