Does getting infected count as having a vaccine dose? 

Yes. If you catch Covid-19, you body builds up a certain level of immunity making it easier to fight off future infection. This immunity is a little weaker when it comes to some new variants of the virus, but it is still significant. 

In France, if you have been infected, health authorities say this provides the equivalent protection of receiving one vaccine dose.  

Currently, you are considered fully vaccinated if you have had two doses of Astrazeneca, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines – or a single dose of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine.

If you are over 65, you can only use the health pass if you have also received a booster dose within a seven months of your last injection/infection. The same rule will apply to over 18s from January 15th. The time frame in which you will need to get a booster is soon going to be shortened to four months. 

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Boosters

With regards to booster doses, the ‘1 bout of Covid = 1 vaccine dose’ rule applies. 

So if you have already been infected with Covid, you will need to have had at least two jabs to carry on using the health pass. 

Let’s see some examples:

President Emmanuel Macon contracted Covid back in December 2020, so when the time came to get vaccinated he only had a single dose. However, over the weekend he tweeted that he has now received his booster shot, so in total he has had 1 bout of Covid plus two vaccine injections. He therefore has the equivalent of three doses – which means that when January 15th comes, he will be able to use the health pass without any difficulties. 

Prime Minister Jean Castex, on the other hand, had two doses of the vaccine earlier this year, but announced last week that he had tested positive for Covid, so he will not need a booster shot, as his catching Covid counts as his third ‘dose’.

A spokesperson for the Health Ministry has written to us to explain however, that if you are infected within less than 15 days of getting vaccinated for the first time, you should follow up with a second dose two months after the infection subsides.

How can I integrate my positive Covid test result into my health pass status? 

The most important reason to be vaccinated is obviously to protect yourself from developing the most serious forms of the virus, and to protect vulnerable members of the community such as the elderly and the ill.

But as we have already covered, it is also a requirement for those who want to use the health pass. 

You can also upload a positive test result, which will be treated as the equivalent of a vaccine dose, to the TousAntiCovid app.

When you receive a positive Covid test in France, you will normally be given a piece of paper with a QR code that you can scan into the app directly, or receive the certificate later by email or SMS.

Alternatively, there is a website where you will able to find proof of your test result – there is a function on the site which allows you to import the result into your TousAntiCovid app. Some have reported significant delays when it comes to this website displaying results. 

Only positive tests between 11 days and 6 months old can be integrated into the health pass as a substitute for a vaccine dose.

What if my positive test result was in another country?

If your positive result comes from a non-EU country, you will not be able to scan the code into the app. The rules state that non-EU positive results are not accepted as a vaccine-substitute in France, but some readers have reported taking their results to either a vaccine centre or a pharmacy and having them added to the app by staff there, although this is not the official policy.

Travel

Unfortunately, the UK does not accept France’s ‘Covid plus one dose’ policy, so people who had a single dose after catching Covid are not counted as fully vaccinated.

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