Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of France again yesterday against the government’s Covid-19 vaccination policies amid concern from rights groups about anti-Semitic sentiment in the protest movement.
Yesterday’s marches were called for the sixth weekend in a row to denounce a “health pass” system announced by President Emmanuel Macron that they say unfairly restricts the rights of the unvaccinated.
The Ministry of the Interior put the number of people turning out at around 175,000 at 220 demonstrations nationwide, including 14,700 in Paris, as of 1900 GMT.
Under the new pass system, introduced progressively since mid-July, anyone wishing to enter a restaurant, theatre, cinema, long-distance train, or large shopping centre must show proof of vaccination or a negative test.
At the head of the Paris march, people held up flags and banners with the word “Liberty” on them and shouted: “Macron! We don’t want your pass!”
The protest movement has brought together conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, former members of the “Yellow Vest” anti-government movement, as well as people concerned that the system unfairly creates a two-tier society. 
Around 200,000 people have marched in previous weekends, according to interior ministry figures.
Organisers claim the real number on previous weekends was double the figures estimated by police.
The government insists the pass is necessary to encourage vaccination uptake and avoid a fourth national lockdown, with unvaccinated making up eight or nine out of every 10 Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital.
A majority of French people support the health pass system and only around a third agree with the protesters, according to a survey by the Ifop polling group for the Journal du Dimanche newspaper last weekend.
Though disputed, the health pass system has been effective in encouraging people to sign up for vaccinations, with millions of people booking appointments in the days after it was announced on July 12.
Around 47mn people have received at least one dose, about 70% of the population, which is a higher rate than in Germany and Italy and only slightly behind Britain.
The most severe Covid-19 hotpots are currently found in France’s overseas territories such as the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as the Pacific islands of French Polynesia.
Polynesian authorities announced a tightening of restrictions yesterday, with schools, restaurants and bars set to close for two weeks, while a nightly curfew will be brought forward by an hour to 8pm. Tourists have been told to stay in their hotels on the islands where the number of infections has increased by a multiple of 14 in two weeks, according to the head of the islands, Edouard Fritch.
France as a whole reported around 22,000 new infections in the past 24 hours, health ministry figures show.