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COVID-19 HEALTH PASS

‘I’m sad to have to do that’ – French bars begin enforcing health pass rules

It has been the subject of repeated street protests, although 60 percent of French people tell pollsters that they support the idea - so how do the French feel about the 'health passport' now that it is in use for a wide range of venues includes bars, restaurants, tourist sites and long-distance travel?

Published: 9 August 2021 17:24 CEST

'I'm sad to have to do that' - French bars begin enforcing health pass rules

A waiter checks a customer's Covid-19 health pass in Strasbourg. Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP.

At Le Valmy bar and café by Paris’ Canal Saint-Martin, around a dozen people were sitting and drinking coffee at 11am on Monday.

Similar to any other weekday morning, then, expect for a slight difference – a sign on the door informed clients they needed to show a health pass. When a staff member came to take their order, clients were then asked to show their TousAntiCovid app or paper certificate confirming that they are either fully vaccinated, have recently tested negative for Covid or recently recovered from Covid.

According to bartender Matthieu, only half of the people who arrived on Monday morning knew they needed a pass.

“The vast majority understand and accept it without a problem,” said Matthieu, who added that he’d only had to turn away two clients. “I think they only had their first dose, so we had to tell them, you can order to go, but you can’t sit in.”

Marie-Soisick, 56, barely noticed the change, since she has been showing her health pass in theatres and concerts for the past three weeks, but she said she didn’t understand why she needed to show the pass for drinking a coffee outside.

“It’s the incoherence between the different measures, where we’re asked for a pass outside on a terrace, but we’re not asked for it on the metro, the RER or certain trains.”

EXPLAINED: How France’s health pass works from Monday

Marie-Soisick always carries a paper copy of her vaccine certificate. “I refuse to use the app, I’d rather protect my personal data,” she said.

American Madeleine, 28, who lives in Lyon, and Nell, 30, visiting from New York, were sitting on the terrace with their suitcases having just arrived in the capital.

Madeleine had warned her childhood friend that they would need to show a health pass during their visit, and the bar accepted Nell’s American vaccination pass, which doesn’t have a QR code.

“As long as I see an official paper which proves the person is vaccinated, it’s okay,” Matthieu said [although this may not be the case in all venues, guidelines state that US vaccine certificates should be converted to French ones – here’s how].

Having already had to show her vaccination card in certain venues in New York, Nell was prepared. “It doesn’t bother me, the problem is I only have one and I’m really scared of losing it,” she said. “Having to carry it around in a foreign country and the risk of losing it – that’s actually a bigger problem to me than the concept of being asked if I have the vaccine.”

While she understands why people are opposed to the pass, Madeleine said she is in favour of the policy. “I think it would only be a problem if the vaccine wasn’t available to everyone, but now that it’s available, I have to admit I have little sympathy for people who don’t want to get vaccinated.”

“You relinquish your social privileges if you are not willing to abide by the social contract that keeps everybody else safe,” Nell agreed.

“I was surprised that everyone had [the pass],” said Omaima at the Peace and Love bar further up the canal, who was nonetheless worried about having to check passes once more people started arriving. “With the clients who are used to coming here, I think it’s going to be difficult to explain to them.”

The bar is attached to a youth hostel, meaning most of the people drinking a coffee on Monday morning were tourists. “I have had problems scanning the codes of people who don’t come from Europe,” Omaima said. “It doesn’t work with them, so they just need to show their vaccination card.”

Others are firmly against the new policy, but are resigned to the situation.

“I think it’s terrible as a restaurateur, firstly to have to have to play the role of the police, which isn’t our job, and then I think it’s terrible for the economy,” said Sarah*, manager of a brasserie in the 19th arrondissement in northern Paris.

The restaurant had already begun asking clients to show a health pass on Monday morning – after a week-long grace period, restaurant owners risk fines and having their businesses temporarily shut down if they do not respect the new rules. “I’m sad to have to do that,” Sarah said.

People who are not yet vaccinated can access health pass venues by presenting proof they have recovered from Covid, or a recent negative test, and pharmacies fear they won’t be able to cope with the demand for tests. Tests were originally supposed to be valid for 48 hours, but now they only need to have been taken within the previous 72 hours.

Outside a pop-up testing centre in the 19th arrondissement on Monday, Filip Babic, 22, and his friend were calculating how long the negative status would last. After considering the maths, Filip decided to take a test.

“I have to take a train to go to Marseille and I also have to eat with my friend. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done it, it’s just because I have the train so it kills two birds with one stone, and since it’s been prolonged to 72 hours, I thought why not do it now, since I’ll be leaving on Thursday.”

Premier contrôle du #PassSanitaire à la Gare de Lyon avant accès au TGV.

Les agents accrochent des bracelets bleus au poignet des personnes après le contrôle du pass. #GareDeLyon pic.twitter.com/WUVmq8eGOp

— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) August 9, 2021

As well as bars and cafés, the health pass is also now required on TGV, Intercité, and night trains. As seen in the above video, staff at train stations were fitting passengers with blue bracelets on Monday after checking their health pass.

Filip often used to go to bars and restaurants, but since he’s yet to receive the vaccine, he says “that’s going to change a lot of things”.

“Getting vaccinated doesn’t bother me, it’s more about the obligation to get vaccinated. I’m not in favour of that,” he added.

The health pass has already been needed to go to the cinema, visit a museum, or visit any culture or leisure venue hosting more than 50 people since July 21st.

Alice, a projectionist at a Paris cinema, has therefore already seen the first effects of the passport. “There are visibly fewer people than usual,” she said.

However, Alice believes extending the validity of negative tests to 72 hours will have a positive effect. “Doing a test to see one or two films – you might ask yourself whether it’s worth it. But if you have three days to watch films, maybe it is.”

Many business owners fear it will be complicated to turn people away if they do not have a valid pass. “They don’t have the health pass and there is nothing I can do,” Mirela Mihalca, a waiter in a café in central Paris told AFP, pointing to two customers who had sat down but whom she had refused to serve. “Some understand it quickly, others not. It is going to be difficult, we are not the police!”

David Fourton, manager of a city-centre café in Bordeaux, told AFP the new rules would mean having to hire an extra person to carry out the checks. “And if we turn clients away what is there reaction going to be? It will slow things down for sure and risks being an utter mess at busy times.”

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Vaccine pass for visitors in France - your questions answered

Bars and cafés are among the French venues that require a vaccine pass. Photo: Sameer Al Doumy/AFP

Since January 24th, France has put in place a vaccine pass which is required to enter a wide range of venues including bars, cafés, restaurants, gyms, leisure centres, cinemas, theatres, museums, large events and long-distance trains.

In short, if you intend to spend time in France, you are going to need one if you want to do anything fun.

Previously a health pass was in place, which allowed for either proof of vaccination or a recent negative test, but from January 24th negative tests are no longer accepted for anyone aged 16 and older.

You can find more details on how the pass works HERE, but there are some issues which particularly affect tourists, visitors or people vaccinated outside France.

Do I need a vaccine pass to enter France?

No. When the French government talks about the vaccine pass, they mean the domestic pass required to access everyday activities in France.

Depending on where you are travelling from, you may need to show proof of vaccination at the border, but this can be a vaccination certificate from your home country.

Once you’re in France, however, you will most likely need the pass.

How do I get a vaccine pass?

The vaccine pass isn’t a physical document, it just means that you need to show proof of either vaccination, recent recovery from Covid or a medical exemption in order to enter certain venues (more on those below).

Importantly, however, these documents must have a French QR code so that staff in venues can scan them.

Most people use the TousAntiCovid app, which is available on all smartphones and has an option in English, but you can show paper certificates if you prefer.

If you are travelling from an EU or Schengen zone country you can use your own country’s domestic health/vaccine pass, since all QR codes are compatible within the bloc.

I had a health pass when I came to France in the summer, is the vaccine pass the same thing?

In effect, yes. The health pass required either proof of vaccination, proof of recent recovery from Covid or proof of a recent negative Covid test and most people used the TousAntiCovid app to show this (although you can also show paper certificates).

The vaccine pass doesn’t allow presentation of a negative test result, but in most other respects is the same, so if you have proof of full vaccination, nothing changes for you. Apart, that is, from boosters . . .

Do I need a booster shot to use the vaccine pass?

Probably, yes.

It depends on when you were vaccinated, but over 18s who have not had a booster more than seven months after their second dose are no longer counted as fully vaccinated.

From February 15th, this window shrinks to four months.

If you have had the booster, it doesn’t matter if the gap between second dose and booster was longer than four or seven months, this concerns only those who have not received a booster shot.

The booster requirement applies to all vaccine pass users, including visitors.

However boosters are not required for travel, so in brief you can enter France without a booster, but you won’t be able to do much once you’re here.

Full details on who needs a booster HERE.

Will my vaccination certificate/booster shot certificate work with the French pass?

It depends on where you were vaccinated.

If you were vaccinated in the EU, Schengen zone or UK then you can scan the QR code on your vaccination certificate straight into the French app. This is also the case if you previously had a health pass and need to add a booster shot in order to keep it valid.

If, however, you were vaccinated in the USA, Canada, Australia or any other non EU/UK/Schengen country then things are a little more complicated. Once in France, you will have to take your vaccination certificate to an approved pharmacy in order to get a QR code that can be used with the French app. Full details HERE.

A vaccination certificate from your home country will be accepted at the border.

I’m not vaccinated but I have recently recovered from Covid, can I use the pass?

The vaccine pass requires one of three things; proof of full Covid vaccination, proof of recent recovery from Covid or proof of a medical exemption (more on that below).

However, the proof of recent recovery must be in an accepted format.

You can find full details on that here, but again it depends on where you tested positive for Covid. If it was in the EU, UK or Schengen zone then you should be able to upload your positive Covid test to the French app. The test must be more than 11 days old, but less than six months old in order to be valid.

If you tested positive outside the EU, you may have a problem. Some countries provide positive tests in a format recognised by France but others – including the USA – do not.

You can find full details of compatible codes HERE.

I had Covid before I could get a booster, what should I do?

If you want to use proof of recent recovery from Covid instead of a booster shot, then it’s the same process as outlined above.

I can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons, what can I do?

France does provide an option for medical exemptions, but the process is so complicated as to be virtually inaccessible to people who are just visiting France.

In order to use the medical exemption clause, you require a French certificat de contre-indication, and getting one of these is not easy.

First you must fit the criteria of listed medical conditions which constitute an acceptable reason not to be vaccinated – and that is a short list.

Then you need a certificate from a French doctor stating that you cannot be vaccinated, certificates from doctors outside France are not accepted.

Once you have the certificate you need to send it to Assurance Maladie – the French state health insurer – which validates the certificate and issues you with a QR code that can be used with the vaccine pass. French residents can use an online process to send their certificate to Assurance Maladie, but this requires a French social security number.

Where can I go without a vaccine pass?

The theory behind the vaccine pass is that people can do the essentials of daily life without it, but anything fun requires the pass.

It is not required for shops, short-distance transport or city public transport such as the Paris Metro, most workplaces, parks, beaches and outdoor gyms or when buying food or drink to take out.

It is required for; ski lifts, bars, restaurants, cafés, cinemas, theatres, museums, galleries, tourist sites (including outdoor sites), gyms, leisure centres, sports grounds, concerts, nightclubs (when they reopen), large events like festivals or long-distance train travel.

Are there any exemptions?

There are a couple of exemptions where a negative Covid test, taken within the previous 24 hours, is accepted instead of a vaccine pass.

If you need to travel on a long-distance train and have “imperative reasons of a family or health nature” such as going to visit a dying relative – you would need to present some proof of this.
A vaccine pass is required to access non-emergency medical treatment or to visit a medical or social establishment (such as a nursing home). If you do not have a vaccine pass you can use a negative test instead. Emergency medical treatment does not require a vaccine pass or a Covid test.

What about children?

A vaccine pass is required for anyone aged 16 or above.
Children aged between 12 and 15 are required to use the health pass, in which a negative Covid test no more than 24 hours is accepted for those who are not fully vaccinated.
Under 12s do not require any type of pass.

The definition of fully vaccinated for children is the same as for adults; to be at least seven days after two doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines or 28 days after a Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Booster shots are not required for under 18s.

For children travelling from countries that have only recently started offering vaccinations to under 18s, or that only offer a single shot of Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Moderna, this creates a problem as the children are unvaccinated by the French definition and face daily Covid tests in order to keep the health pass.

Do all these venues really check the pass?

Staff at any of the listed vaccine pass venues are supposed to check the pass on entry, but as ever in life, compliance is not 100 percent.

The majority of places do check, especially in the cities, but it can be variable. We’ve also heard anecdotal accounts of staff accepting non-French vaccination certificates, especially the American CDC cards, but be aware that this is not official policy.

It’s probably best not to chance it on a train – guards can remove you from the train at the next stop if you are found to be travelling without a valid pass.

And if you’re tempted to use someone else’s pass in order to gain access to a bar/café etc then we would strongly advise against this – that is vaccine pass fraud and there are very stiff penalties in place for this, including jail time.

Do you have a question on vaccine passes that is not covered here? Email us on [email protected] and we will do our best to answer it.

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