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Covid-19 Health Pass For Members

When, where and why you need a health passport in France

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
When, where and why you need a health passport in France
A security staff member checks the health pass of a client, at the entrance of a nightclub in Saint-Jean-de-Monts, western France, on early July 10, 2021. - Nightlife fans across France can once again crowd into clubs starting July 9, 2021, though officials warned they would remain vigilant against any surge in Covid-19 cases in coming days as the more contagious Delta variant of the virus looks set to become the dominant strain in France as soon as this weekend. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

As France faces a Delta variant-driven fourth wave of Covid-19, people are now required to carry a health passport to visit cultural or leisure venues, cafés, bars and on long-distance train or bus travel. Here's when and where you will need the passport.

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The pass sanitaire, as health passports are known in France, proves that the bearer has either been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, has already recovered from the virus having tested positive more than eleven days and less than six months ago, or has received a negative test result in the past 48 hours.

Where it's required

From July 21st, health passes have been required to enter public cultural and leisure venues such as theatres, cinemas, libraries, theme parks, concert halls, festivals, swimming pools or leisure centres, museums and monuments.

From Monday, August 9th they are also required to enter bars, cafés, restaurants (even if you are sitting outside) larger shopping centres and for long-distance train or bus travel and domestic flights. they are also required for visitors to hospitals and care homes and to access routine hospital appointments.

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For a full list of venues where the pass is required, click HERE.

The rule applies to both visitors and employees of these venues, but employees have until August 30th to be fully vaccinated. 

Chilren aged between 12 and 17 also have an exemption until September 30th, to allow families time to get their children vaccinated.

Face masks will no longer be required in venues where the health passport is in use, unless required by local decrees.

READ ALSO: ‘I’m a barman, not a policeman’ – French café owners call for delay in implementing health passports

Why it's being expanded

President Emmanuel Macron defended the tightening of the restrictions after earlier pledging that the health pass would not be required for "everyday activities" by saying he was trying to strike a balance between “protection and freedom, between protecting lives and reopening the country”.

Expanding the use of the health pass was the best way to achieve that balance, he said.

43 of France's 96 mainland départments had surpassed the alert level of 50 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants on Tuesday, as France attempts to limit the effects of a fourth Covid wave.

For vaccinations, health passes become valid seven days after the second dose. The same period is in force for those who have recovered from Covid-19 and have had a single booster dose of vaccine. 

For the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, known as Janssen in France, the period is four-weeks.

From August 9th, health passes will be required to enter cafés, restaurants, bars, certain shopping centres, hospitals or nursing homes as a visitor, and long-distance travel on trains, planes or coaches.

Those aged between 12 and 17 have until September 30th to be vaccinated before health pass rules apply to them.

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Anonymous 2021/08/02 21:11
What I would say to Macron..... One simple question: if the vaccinated can catch Covid & spread Covid - what EXACTLY is the point of a vaccine passport?
Anonymous 2021/07/26 09:28
Hi folks, I can't find any other source for these information. Does anyone have clear information on the government's policy on health pass for people vaccinated abroad? Pharmacies don't seem able to record these yet without having to "claim" that they have actually vaccinated us (which could have legal repercussions for them). Thank you, Jamie
info_60f9b7e9657ae 2021/07/22 20:34
How do I get a Pass Sanitaire if I am a US citizen and was fully vaccinated in the US? I tried going to a pharmacy today and they did not know how to make one for me.
  • Anonymous 2021/07/23 17:08
    See "How people vaccinated in the USA can access the French health passport" (paywalled), https://www.thelocal.fr/20210721/how-people-vaccinated-in-the-usa-can-access-the-french-health-passport/ (21-July-2021). Details can change rapidly, however.
Anonymous 2021/07/22 16:28
here's th reason we need these. I read a quote in the news over the weekend from some guy who was at one of the anti-vaccine-certificate protests that pretty summed up the French attitude: "Macron plays on fears, it's revolting. I know people who will now get vaccinated just so that they can take their children to the movies, not to protect others from serious forms of covid" This guy meant it as an indictment of Macron's "despotic" ways, but it's actually really a indictment of his own attitude. In other words, he was saying "I don't care whether you live or die, I'll only get vaccinated so that I can keep my social life". And this is the sort of people that needs to be forced to "do the right thing", because they won't do it by themselves.
Anonymous 2021/07/22 02:16
This is horrifying!
  • Anonymous 2021/07/23 16:54
    Yes, the 112,000 people in France alone who have died would agree with you (so would the 4m world-world who have died): Covid-19 is horrifying. The French Covid-19 patients in hospital, 99% of which are not fully-vaccinated, would also agree with you: Not being vaccinated is horrifically absurd. So would the over 3 billion world-wide who have had a vaccine: It's safe, so waiting despite vaccines being available, is horrific.
Anonymous 2021/07/21 18:03
I just got tossed from the Jewish Museum with my Italian health pass (issued 2 July). I wasn't the only one -- my husband, another man and two children were refused entry while I was there.
  • Anonymous 2021/07/23 17:02
    I my be mistaken, but I believe the EU-compliant version (the one that also lets you travel within the EU) should suffice. Here in France, the proof-of-vaccination is now EU-compliant (and people with older, non-EU-compliant, French proof can obtain an EU-compliant version). EU-complaint health passes only came into existence on 1st July, so I *presume* (this is a guess!) your Italian health pass of about that date isn't EU-compliant. (Of course, it's possible the checks were in error.) I have no idea if this presumed-glitch can be rectified whilst you are in France (nor how to rectify the problem when in Italy). Sorry!
Anonymous 2021/07/21 16:12
How can an American with a CDC card proving vaccination get a Health Pass in France?
Anonymous 2021/07/20 15:14
Any mention of polling stations ?

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