Reporting by TOE Correspondent in Paris | Editing by Shreejana KC

President Emmanuel Macron burst into the presidential race with an explosive remark about the country’s minority of unvaccinated people — in an apparent effort to win support from mainstream voters but at the risk of widening divisions over the issue.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of using divisive and vulgar language after he used a slang term to say he wanted to make life difficult for unvaccinated people.

“I really want to piss them off, and we’ll carry on doing this – to the end,” he told Le Parisien newspaper.

Three months ahead of a presidential election, opponents of Macron said his words were unworthy of a president.

MPs halted debate on a law barring the unvaccinated from much of public life.

The session in the National Assembly was brought to a standstill for a second night running on Tuesday as opposition delegates complained about the president’s language, with one leading figure describing it as “unworthy, irresponsible and premeditated”.

The legislation is expected to be approved in a vote this week, but it has angered vaccine opponents and several French MPs have said they have received death threats over the issue.

Mandatory vaccinations are being introduced in several European countries, with Austria leading the way for over-14s from next month and Germany planning a similar move for adults. Italy’s government meanwhile said on Wednesday it would make vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory from 15 February for everyone over the age of 50.