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TOURISM

EXPLAINED: How does France’s Covid traffic light system for travel work?

France uses traffic light classification for Covid-19 travel restrictions. Here's how it works depending on whether countries are classed green, orange, red.

EXPLAINED: How does France's Covid traffic light system for travel work?
Photo: Christophe Archambault/AFP

France uses traffic light travel classifications, which determines the rules for entry into the country for vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers.

Country categories change rapidly, but there are currently no countries on the red list, only green and orange list countries.

MAP: Which countries are on France’s green list?

Each colour tier then has different rules for vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers. Children under 12 are exempt from testing or vaccine requirements.

Green countries

Travellers coming from green countries can travel for any reason including tourism or to visit second homes and don’t need to quarantine

Green and fully vaccinated – no requirement for a test or a declaration, just proof of vaccination. A vaccine certificate from your home country will be accepted

Green and unvaccinated – a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours if a PCR test or 48 hours if an antigen test, or a certificate of recent Covid recovery (a positive test result with a QR code, taken more than 11 days ago but less than 6 months ago)

Orange countries

Orange and fully vaccinated – proof of vaccination, plus a declaration of being free of Covid symptoms. You can find the declaration HERE.

Orange and not vaccinated – travel allowed for essential reasons only or for certain categories of travellers.

People who qualify must present a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours if a PCR or 48 hours if an antigen test. Once in France, there is no requirement to quarantine, but you may be required to take a test on arrival at the port/airport, if an official directs you to

What does fully vaccinated mean?

To qualify as fully vaccinated, travellers must:

  • Have received a vaccine that is approved by the European Medicines Agency – Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson (also known as Janssen). The Indian-produced Covishield vaccine is now accepted by France 
  • Be at least seven days after the second injection for double-dose vaccines or after a single dose for those people who had previously had Covid-19
  • Be at least 28 days after the injection for people who had the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine
  • People who have received a vaccine that is recognised by the World Health Organisation but not yet approved for use by the EMA can travel to France if they have had a ‘top up’ single dose of either Pfizer or Moderna 
  • A booster shot is not required to be classed as ‘fully vaccinated’

Paper or digital vaccine certificates are accepted, but they must comply with WHO standards – including the person’s full name, the type of vaccine used and a batch number. The NHS app is now compatible with France’s heath passport.

The EU’s digital health pass is also valid for travel purposes.

For families travelling with children who are not vaccinated, the children can enter under the same conditions as their parents.

For the full list of reasons accepted as essential travel – click HERE.

Member comments

  1. I am assuming that children under 12 from an orange country who cannot yet be vaccinated and are traveling with parents who are fully vaccinated will be subject to testing and quarantine requirements upon arrival? Clarification would be appreciated! Thank you.

  2. I would be interested to know how children (under 16 who cannot be vaccinated in UK so far and under 12s who will not be vaccinated at all) will be catagorised? If travelling with fully vaccinated parents would they be allowed entry with negative test?

  3. What about children from the UK, 16, 13 and 9 year olds, accompanying fully vaccinated parents – I assume they are also allowed in without quarantine.

    Thank you
    Carita

    1. According to the UK govt interpretation of the French announcement in the ‘from 9 June’ section, under 18s are exempt:

      ref: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements

      “Children under the age of 18 years old, who are travelling with fully vaccinated adults, will be exempt from requirements to self-isolate and provide an essential reason for travel, regardless of whether the minor has been vaccinated or not”

      Obviously that is from the UK and doesn’t have official status in France.

      Also worth noting that UK govt page includes the definition of ‘vaccinated’ to include a single dose of a double dose vaccine if you have been previously tested positive for covid. I knew this was the French domestic vaccination rule but hadn’t seen it stated before in the context of their travel requirements.

  4. What’s the source of this story? Only The Local is reporting it so far as I can tell. Without a source, seems like hogwash.

  5. My 9 and 13 year old grandchildren will be driving with their fully vaccinated parents – all 4 having a pre-travel PCR test – one report says the children must isolate for 7 days after arrival – and others are not mentioning it . Anyone know the definitive answer yet ? Also tricky to stay overnight in a hotel enroute to the south.

  6. A WARNING IF YOU HAVE YOUR MARRIED NAME ON YOUR PASSPORT! I showed my TousAntiCovid app PCR test result at an Air France check in desk and it was going to be refused as proof because the certificates in the app only show your BIRTH NAME. Luckily I had the paper copy of the test result which also had my married name. My first vaccination attestation has both names, the second only has my birth name as it has been decided that the vaccination passport will also just have birth name. I am travelling this weekend and have a copy of my birth cert, marriage cert, tax payment and utility bill just in case!

  7. We are thinking of flying from bordeaux to malaga next week. We have both had both vaccinations. Does anyone what paperwork we need to have with us. I have my tous covid app on my phone.
    Thanks.

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HEALTH

France’s Covid-19 app to be ‘put to sleep’

France's Covid-tracker app, used for months for the all-important 'health pass' will be switched off today, health officials have confirmed.

France’s Covid-19 app to be 'put to sleep'

Covid-19 screening in France reaches an important milestone on Friday, June 30th, 2023 – when the TousAntiCovid app is officially ‘put to sleep’.

The app, which was launched in June 2020 as France came out of its first lockdown of the pandemic and has undergone a number of iterations, including as a delivery device for the health pass, will be switched off. 

For most people, this anniversary will pass without mention. Few people have consulted the app in recent months, and it has sat dormant on many smartphones since France’s Covid-19 health pass requirement was suspended in March 2022.

Meanwhile, the Système d’Informations de DEPistage (SI-DEP) interface – which has been informing people about their test results since the Spring of 2020 – is also being shut down on June 30th, as per legal requirements.

The SI-DEP shutdown means that it will also be impossible to retrieve Covid test certificates issued before June 30th, should the need arise. All data held by the database will be “destroyed”, officials have said.

It has handled more than 320 million antigen and PCR tests since it was introduced.

This does not mean that testing for Covid-19 has stopped, or is now unnecessary. As reported recently, more than 1,000 deaths a week in Europe are still caused by the virus.

The shutdown of the national information system does not mean that people in France cannot still book an appointment for an antigen test at a pharmacy, or a PCR test at a laboratory. But the number of people going for testing is declining rapidly. In recent days, according to Le Parisien, just 15,000 people in France took a Covid test – the lowest number, it said, since the pandemic started.

Reimbursement rules for testing changed on March 1st, with only certain categories of people – minors, those aged 65 and over, or immunosuppressed patients – covered for the entire cost of testing.

From Friday, only PCR test results will be transmitted to authorities for data purposes, meaning pharmacists that only offer antigen testing will be locked out of the online interface to record test results.

The reason for the shift in priorities is to maintain “minimal epidemiological surveillance”, the Ministry of Health has reportedly told scientists.

As a result test certificates, showing a positive or negative result, will no longer be issued from July 1st. Since February 1st, anyone taking a test has had to give consent to share their data in order to obtain a certificate. 

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