Macron pushes vaccinations, saying virus ‘is not behind us’

French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for vaccinations as coronavirus cases continue to go up in France and overseas territories.

“The health crisis is not behind us, very clearly. … We will live for several more months with this virus,” Macron said Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

The country has been averaging more than 22,000 new cases each day, battling the virus with 56 percent of its population fully vaccinated.

Overseas territory Martinique is seeing 1,200 cases per 100,000 people while Guadeloupe has 1,700 cases per 100,000 people.

Vaccination rates in the territories are well below France’s with only about 20 percent of both territories fully vaccinated.

Vaccination efforts in France have come under scrutiny by some due to COVID-19 health passes implemented by the country.

A rule that went into effect this week requires citizens to have a health pass that shows they are fully vaccinated, have natural immunity or have a recent negative coronavirus test to do basic activities such as eating at a restaurant.

The passes have sparked protest and some have vandalized vaccination centers.