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COVID-19 HEALTH PASS

IN PICTURES: 140,000 turn out for fresh protest against France’s health pass

Just over 140,000 people protested against France's Covid health pass system across France on Saturday, a decrease on the number that took to the streets the previous weekend.

Published: 5 September 2021 08:50 CEST

IN PICTURES: 140,000 turn out for fresh protest against France's health pass

A woman dressed as Marianne, a national symbol of France, waves a French national flag during a demonstration called by French nationalist party 'Les Patriotes' (The Patriots) leader Florian Philippot, to protest against the Covid-19 health pass in Paris on September 4th, 2021. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

A total of 141,655 people, including 18,425 à Paris, demonstrated against the health pass for the eighth consecutive Saturday, according to the interior ministry.

On Saturday evening, the ministry had logged 215 protest actions, including five in Paris. Twenty-one people were arrested and one police officer suffered minor injuries.

Tensions were high at the Forum Des Halles shopping centre in Châtelet, Paris as protesters forced their way in, defying the ban on access to shopping centres without a health pass as shown in this tweet by Le Figaro journalist Clément Lanot.

« LIBERTÉ ! »

Les anti #PassSanitaire ont réussie à envahir le centre commercial de Châtelet. #manifestation4septembre #Manifs4septembre https://t.co/Tf6S4stDxa pic.twitter.com/1VSKQsk1Ih

— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) September 4, 2021

The BRAV-M, the motorised violent action repression brigade, were unsuccessful in getting the demonstrators out of the building and were forced to withdraw, Le Figaro reported.

Falling numbers
Numbers have been falling in recent weeks, according to ministry figures. Last week, 160,000 people took to the streets in total, however, the number protesting in Paris – 14,500 – was higher.

Two weeks ago, protesters numbered around 175,000 and 215,000 three weeks earlier.

Despite the ongoing protests, a study carried out by French daily Le Figaro showed that 67 percent of French people actually approve of the health pass, which President Emmanuel Macron could extend beyond November 15th.

The controversial pass obliges people to have proof of vaccination or a recent negative test to have access to cafes, cinemas and many other facilities.

A man dressed up as Jesus Christ and holding a cross reading “Do not crucify our children” stands in front of the Eiffel Tower during a demonstration called by French nationalist party “Les Patriotes” (The Patriots) leader Florian Philippot in Paris. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

Protesters walk through the Passage Pommeraye in Nantes, western France, on September 4th, 2021. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

Medics tend to a man who was injured during a fight between far right and far left protesters in the Passage Pommeraye on the sidelines of a demonstration against the mandatory Covid-19 health pass to access most of the public space, in Nantes. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

A man sprays paint on a poster bearing portraits of French health Minister Olivier Veran and French doctor Didier Raoult in Nantes. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

A man holds a placard reading “Elected people, traitors of my trust. Unworthy of the position” in Nantes. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

A protestor sticks a poster reading “The police has become autonomous” on a police car. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

Demonstrators hold a banner reading ‘Bistros, cafes, restaurants: monitoring [health passes] is not our job’ in Nantes. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

A woman wearing a yellow vest and speaking in a loud hailer, holds a placard reading ‘The media is the virus, fight for freedom like you fought for toilet paper’ in Paris. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP)

A masked demonstrator holds a placard reading ‘No to opacity and corruption for contracts (L) and No to secrecy and lies for vaccines (R)’ in Paris. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP)

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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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