Following his explosive interview, the right-wing presidential candidate criticised Mr Macron for making the unvaccinated second-class citizens. Ms Le Pen, who is seen as one of the President's main challengers, said: "A President should not say that. "The guarantor of the unity of the nation persists in dividing it and assumes that he wants to make non-vaccinated people second-class citizens.

       "In April, I will be the President of all the French people.”

       In an interview with Le Parisien, Mr Macron claimed he wanted to make life for the unvaccinated as difficult as possible.

       Using the French word, "emmerder", he said: "The unvaccinated, I really want to p*** them off.

       "And so, we're going to continue doing so, until the end.

       "That's the strategy."

       Although he insisted he would send the unvaccinated to prison, he effectively claimed he wanted to bar them from normal life.

       He added: "I won't send the unvaccinated to prison, I won't vaccinate by force.

       "So we need to tell them, from 15 January, you won't be able to go to the restaurant anymore, you won't be able to down one, won't be able to have a coffee, go to the theatre, the cinema."

       JUST IN: Macron blasted amid anti-EU sentiment in France

       In France, MPs were forced to suspend a debate on a law barring the unvaccinated from public life.

       The legislation was expected to be approved this week but after Mr Macron's comments sparked fury from opposition officials, the debate was suspended for a second day.

       As of January 4, 91 percent of people have been fully vaccinated in France, the French government states.

       According to figures from Our World in Data, 271,746 new cases were confirmed in France, on January 4.

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       Due to this, the French government wants to pass a law to introduce mandatory vaccinations for public venues and transport.

       This would remove the current measure which allows the public to show a negative test result.

       See the latest Covid vaccine stats below and visit InYourArea for all the Covid vaccine latest

       Despite the high case rate, Mr Macron is still the frontrunner for the election in April.

       According to a poll from Politico, Mr Macron is tracking at 25 percent.