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COVID-19 HEALTH PASS

Your questions answered on France’s 4-month booster shot rule

Most people - including tourists and visitors - now need a booster shot in order to use the French vaccine pass. Here's how it works.

Published: 14 February 2022 11:35 CET
Updated: 18 February 2022 10:51 CET
Your questions answered on France's 4-month booster shot rule
From Wednesday, access to the vaccine pass will be limited for people who have not had booster shots. Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

What changed?

On Wednesday, February 15th, booster shot rules were tightened up.

The vaccine pass was already required in France to access a wide range of venues including bars, cafés, ski lifts, tourist sites, gyms, leisure centres and long-distance buses or trains.

The pass initially required a booster after seven months, but on February 15th this fell to four months.

That means that anyone who has not already had a booster shot, and for whom their second vaccine dose was more than four months ago, is no longer eligible for the vaccine pass.

If you live in France, you can get a booster shot three months after your second dose.

Who needs a booster?

The deactivation concerns only those who have not had a booster shot.

If you have already had a booster your pass will remain active – even if you got your booster more than four months after your second dose. There is at present no requirement for a second booster shot.

Does this apply to tourists and visitors?

Yes, the booster shot rule applies to everyone, both French residents and people who are visiting France.

Boosters are not required to enter the country. At the border presentation of a certificate of full vaccination – in most cases two doses – is sufficient.

However, once you are in the country you need a vaccine pass if you intend to visit bars, cafés, ski lifts, cinemas, theatres, gyms, leisure centres, tourist sites, large events, sports matches or use long-distance trains, buses or domestic flights.

If you are visiting from outside France and have not had a booster shot and more than four months have passed since your second dose, you may not be able to access the vaccine pass, which will severely curtail your holiday activities.

What about children?

Children under the age of 12 do not need any type of pass.

Children aged between 12 and 15 need a health pass – which can use either proof of vaccination or a recent negative test.

Children aged between 16 and 18 need a vaccine pass, but do not need a booster.

Anyone aged 18 and over needs a vaccine pass with a booster.

Full details HERE.

What if I caught Covid before I could get the booster?

If you have recently had Covid, it’s possible to use a certificate of recovery instead of a booster shot.

The certificate lasts for four months after you had Covid, after that you will need a booster.

Full details on how to get the certificate HERE.

What if my country doesn’t offer a booster after four months?

Not all countries offer booster shots within four months of getting the second dose, with some people having to wait for up to six months until they are eligible.

The Local has raised this issue with the French government, but the answer appears to be ‘tough’ – not being eligible for a vaccine in your home country doesn’t mean that the French four-month limit does not apply.

The American Embassy has issued a travel warning over this issue, advising anyone travelling from the US to check carefully before departing that they will be eligible for the French vaccine pass, or face a severely constrained holiday.

Will my vaccination certificate be accepted in France?

If you were vaccinated in the EU, the Schengen zone or the UK, your vaccination certificate is compatible with the French system.

However if you were vaccinated in a non-EU/Schengen/UK country, you will need to convert your vaccination certificate to a French code once you arrive in France – here’s how.

Will my positive test result be accepted in France?

If you intend to rely on a recent Covid infection rather than a booster shot, check first whether your test result will be valid in France.

If you tested positive in the EU or Schengen zone and got a PCR or antigen test, then your test certificate will be accepted. Home test kit results are not accepted.

If you tested positive in the UK then PCR tests will be accepted, but not all types of Lateral Flow Test will – full details here.

If you tested positive in Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Cape Verde, El Salvador, the Faroe Islands, Georgia, Israel, Iceland, Lebanon, Lichtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, Saint-Marino, Serbia, Singapour, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE, Uruguay and Vatican City then your test result will be accepted, provided the results certificate has a QR code on it. The French government has created a platform here where you can check if your certificate is compatible with the French system.

Positive tests from countries not listed above will almost certainly not be accepted in France.

Full details HERE. 

What if I can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons?

In a small number of cases, vaccination is not possible for medical reasons. In this case you need a Certificat de contre-indication – full details here on how to get that.

Can I get a booster while I am in France?

If your home country doesn’t offer boosters within the four-month limit, is it possible to come to France and get a booster here?

The French vaccination programme is intended for residents of France. It may be possible in some cases for tourists or visitors to get a booster shot while here, but our advice is that people should not rely on that if they intend to travel to France for a holiday. 

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TRAVEL NEWS

ID, pets and smoking: 7 things French train ticket inspectors can fine you for

From sitting in the wrong seat to not having your ID on you, here are a few of the rules you need to know in order to avoid fines from France's ticket inspectors.

Published: 13 March 2024 15:44 CET
ID, pets and smoking: 7 things French train ticket inspectors can fine you for

SNCF inspectors on trains in France have something of a ‘jobsworth’ reputation – a recent article in a French newspaper referred to them as ‘les cow-boys‘ and accused them of ‘avoir le sang chaud‘ – ie being hot-blooded or over-enthusiastic.

While it’s true that a minority of railway conductors can seem a little overzealous at times, in most cases they are merely doing their jobs in what can often be difficult circumstances. Anyway, they’re nothing like as bad as the Paris Metro ticket inspectors.

SNCF regulations sometimes leave travellers stunned to find themselves fined, often expensively. Here are a few pointers to help you sort out the obligations on board a train and in a station.

Carry ID when you travel

Conductors rarely ask for identity papers, and usually just scan the ticket, but not being able to show an official document on demand means you could be fined the same amount as if you didn’t have a ticket. 

This is because rail tickets, whether they’re for TGV, Intercités or TER services, are in a person’s name. In the event of an inspection, you may be required to show proof of ID – a photocopy or photo on your mobile phone is not acceptable. 

The same applies to holders of a discount or season ticket, such as the Navigo pass. 

If you’re taking a cross-border train you should have your passport or ID card with you. Although document checks within the Schengen zone are not common, they do happen and you will need a valid travel documents – this includes a passport or national ID card, but does not include a driver’s licence or carte de séjour.

Don’t use someone else’s ticket

Linked to the above, don’t swap tickets with someone else, even if they can’t travel – just in case you need to show some form of ID.

If you don’t have a ticket in your name then you in effect are travelling without a ticket.

Your ticket must be valid for the train you’re using

Don’t try to sneak on an earlier train with a ticket for a later one. In France, a ticket is valid only for the date and time of the train listed on it. If you arrive at the station in time to catch an earlier train, you need to exchange your ticket for the earlier service, or cancel your ticket, get a refund and buy one for the correct service. The same is true if you miss your train, whether it’s your fault or not.

In most regions, TER tickets can be refunded free of charge up to the day before departure, but cannot be exchanged, while a €19 fee applies to TGV ticket exchanges made within six days of departure.

Sit in your assigned a seat

If you are on a train with an assigned seat, use it. One SNCF user took to social media after he was fined €270 for swapping his standard class seat with another user, who had a first class ticket, but wanted to sit with someone who did not. 

Similar to air travel, in theory, everyone must be seated in their assigned seat on a train in France. You may ask a conductor if you can swap seats, but they are not obliged to say yes.

Smoking is banned on trains and station platforms

It seems like a lot of French train passengers have missed this memo, but smoking is outlawed in “a vehicle or area used for public transport of passengers by rail or guided vehicles”.

That includes the train platform and the station (although in reality you’ll often see people hopping off the train for a quick smoke on the platform while a train is in the station).

You can be fined €68 for smoking on a train, or €30 on the platform. Don’t spit on the platform, either – you could cop a €150 fine.

You need a ticket for your pet 

Dogs are allowed on all French trains (apart from the Eurostar), but unless they are registered assistance dogs they will need their own ticket, which costs €7.

Depending on their size they may need to wear a muzzle. Other pets such as cats can also travel, but need to be in a secure carrier – full details here. If you have a pet snail (and who doesn’t?) then it will also need a ticket in order to travel.

And maybe your bike

You can take your bike with you on most types of train, but you may need to reserve a space in advance at a cost of €10. This varies depending on the type of train, with local TER and suburban rail services generally free to take bikes on, while high-speed TGV services may require a reservation. Full details here.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of rules, merely some of the most common reasons that people get fined while travelling on a French train.

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