The French parliament had approved the suspension of unvaccinated health workers from Wednesday in a bid to protect the public from the COVID-19 pandemic.
French has witnessed a recent surge in the pandemic in the last few weeks.
The country had 113,000 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic and France health authorities said most of those hospitalized in the most recent surge were not vaccinated.
With as many as 300,000 workers still not vaccinated, some hospitals fear staff shortages will add to their strain.
Vaccines are now compulsory for medical care, home care, and emergency workers in France and Wednesday has been given as the deadline for such staff to have had at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The government’s spokesman, Gabriel Attal, said the move was aimed at protecting the country’s fragile populations.
He said: “It’s aimed at one thing: protecting hospitals, protecting health care workers, protecting our fragile populations.
“We are not stigmatizing anyone. We are making everyone take responsibility.”
