Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron announced anyone entering a restaurant, café, shopping centre, hospital or taking a long-distance train in France will have to present a special Covid health pass from August.

The same Covid health pass – which shows that a person has been vaccinated or had a recent negative Covid test – will be similarly required for anyone over the age of 12 to enter a cinema, theatre, museum, theme park or a cultural centre from as early as 21 July, the president said, in a bid to pressure more French people to take up vaccines.

The president told the nation, “You’ve understood – vaccination is not immediately obligatory for everyone, but we’re going to extend the health pass to the maximum, in order to push a maximum of you to go and get vaccinated”.

Macron also announced mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for workers in healthcare and in retirement homes. Vaccine checks on those workers will begin in September, with a risk of sanctions or fines for non-compliance. The compulsory vaccines also apply to all volunteers or staff in contact with elderly or vulnerable people in their homes, including home helps.

“Our country is facing a surge in the epidemic across our territory, in mainland France as well as overseas,” Macron said at the start of the televised address. “The situation is under control, but if we do not act now, the number of cases will increase significantly and will lead to a rise in hospitalisations,” he added.

France has vaccinated 40% of its population and vaccines are widely available for anyone aged 12 and over. Macron said doses were available and urged French people to do their “civic” duty of getting a jab – which would be recognised with more freedoms – while the government would be “putting in restrictions on the non-vaccinated rather than on everyone”, he said.