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PASSPORT

France’s new vaccination certificates ‘first step’ towards health passport

People getting the Covid vaccine in France will now be issued with a certificate and a QR code which can be scanned into an app - the first stage towards the creation of the 'health pass' for travel and leisure.

Published: 4 May 2021 12:09 CEST
Updated: 5 May 2021 09:06 CEST
France's new vaccination certificates 'first step' towards health passport
An airline employee in Paris scans the vaccination code of a passenger. Photo: Thibault Camus/AFP

Announcing the four-step process for lifting lockdown in France, president Emmanuel Macron outlined several steps – including travel from the USA – that would only be possible with a pass sanitaire or health passport.

IN DETAIL: France’s calendar for reopening from lockdown

The first step towards the creation of vaccine passports happened on Monday, when people receiving an injection began to be issued with an attestation de vaccination Covid-19 or vaccination certificate.

This example was posted by doctor and medical columnist Jimmy Mohammed, who added that his patients were “very happy, it’s a real official document, some even asked me if I could fill out the certificate for their spouse who was vaccinated last week”.

The certificate also comes with a QR code that can be scanned into France’s Covid tracker app TousAntiCovid and create a ‘vaccine pass’ that can be scanned on entrance to certain venues, or at the borders.

The app already has the facility to scan the results of Covid tests, creating a similar pass.

Thomas Fantôme, head of the health system Assurance maladie, said the new codes were “the vaccination brick of the future health pass”.

What about those who have already had their vaccine?

If you have already had your vaccine and didn’t get a certificate, these will be available “from the second half of May”, according to digital affairs minister Cedric O.

These will be available via your online Ameli account. If you don’t have already have an account you can visit www.ameli.fr and register using the details on your carte vitale.

READ ALSO Ameli: How to set up an online French social security account

The account can only be set up by people who are registered in the French social security system and have a carte vitale, however.

France is allowing vaccination of residents who do not yet have their carte vitale – full details on how that works HERE.

We asked the Health Ministry what the advice was for people who had already had their vaccine, but aren’t able to set up an Ameli account to get their vaccination certificate.

They told us: “This group are invited to contact the vaccination centre or the doctor/pharmacist who performed the injection to obtain a paper certificate of vaccination.”

So what can the health pass be used for?

At present, nothing, but it’s part of the plan for the wider opening up of France, with Macron tagging two particular activities that will require a health pass once they recommence in June – travel from non-EU countries including the USA and access to large events like concerts.

For domestic use, it’s envisaged that it will be used for events of more than 5,000 people – concerts, sports matches, large public meetings or festivals.

Ministers have already said it won’t be used for day-to-day activities such as going to the gym or a café.

People wanting to attend large events can download the app, scan either their vaccination certificate or a recent negative Covid test and generate the code, which can be scanned on the door by staff.

What about international travel?

This may be a little more complicated.

France has been trialling TousAntiCovid codes on internal flights but once international travel opens up there will be two issues – whether the various countries’ apps and vaccination certificates will ‘talk’ to each other correctly and allow scanning of certificates and what agreements countries have in place about health passports.

In parallel to France’s app, the EU is also working on its own app, the ‘digital green pass’, which it aims to launch in June. Like the French app, it will have options to upload either a vaccination certificate or a recent negative test, with a third option of a medical certificate for people who have recently recovered from Covid.

READ ALSO How will the EU’s ‘Covid passport’ system work for tourists in Europe?

For non-EU countries, however, it’s more complicated and will require negotiation on the recognition of either France’s health pass or the EU’s pass, or both.

France’s transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri told LCI radio on Monday: “We are going to negotiate with partners, such as the Americans, bilateral agreements that will allow us to travel to each other’s countries.”

As a non-EU country, the UK will also need to negotiate either directly with France or with the EU for mutual recognition of vaccine passports.

When will be be available?

June 9th is the first date on France’s reopening calendar that involves the health pass, so it’s unlikely to be in use before then. The June 9th date can also be postponed if the health situation deteriorates.

Until then people who are able to travel to France will need to present at the border a negative PCR test taken within the previous 72 hours – even if they are fully vaccinated.

READ ALSO Who can travel to France as the country reopens after lockdown?

What about people who don’t have a smartphone?

Digital affairs minister Cedric O has already said there will be the option for people to show paper certificates for leisure purposes in France.

The situation for international travel has currently not been confirmed.

Member comments

  1. Yes, we fall into the category of people who so far have received the first dose but we do not have the carte vitale. The Health Ministry should have made that clear in this announcement. Did they forget that there are people in France right now who don’t have the carte vitale AND who have been vaccinated?

  2. Surely, in the interests of inclusivity, the government won’t insist on a smart-phone-only health pass? There are significant numbers of people in France who do not have and do not want/need a smart phone. It would be somewhat diiscriminatory to follow this particualr path alone.

  3. I fall in between two countries. I had my first Pfizer vaccination in the U.K. in February and then my second here in france. Sadly, the certificate I received states that I have only had one vaccination and ignored the U.K. jab. I do not yet have a carte vitale either.

  4. I got my second shot on Monday morning and got a certificate of vaccination but not the one with QR code. And I do not have a carte vitale. I hope the process for those with no carte vitale getting the QR code certificate when it is announced is not only for those vaccinated before May 3.

  5. I had my second BioNTec/Pfizer jab yesterday & sure enough, I received my certificate complete with QR code.

    For those without a smartphone, where necessary a paper version of it is perfectly acceptable.

  6. I got my 1st vaccine a couple of weeks ago. Since I caught COVID last December my french Doctor told me I just need one dose and then he printed me a certificate which I scanned into my TousAntiCovid App.
    I don’t have a carte vitale but somehow my doctor found me in the system and printed my certificate.

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EES PASSPORT CHECKS

EES border checks could undergo ‘soft launch’, UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a "soft launch" of the new EU border system – the Entry/Exit (EES) system - in October but authorities are still waiting for European Commission to confirm the start date, amid concerns over the delay of a new app.

Published: 4 May 2024 09:30 CEST
EES border checks could undergo 'soft launch', UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a soft launch of the new EU border system – the entry/exit (EES) system – on the assumption that it will go live on October 6th, ministers told a hearing at the House of Commons European scrutiny committee this week.

But the European Commission is expected to confirm the exact launch date of the new biometric checks for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area at some point this summer, they added.

“We are very much working on a basis whereby this policy will go live on the 6th of October. It is important that we plan for that eventuality. We are expecting to hear definitively from the European Union that ‘go live’ arrangement in the summer,” Tom Pursglove, UK Minister for Legal Migration and the Border told the committee.

The parliamentary committee is conducting an inquiry on the disruptions the system will cause in the UK.

Pursglove also said that “precautionary measures” have been agreed by the EU, that will be put in place in certain circumstances after the start of EES, for example if delays at the borders exceeded a certain length of time.

Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, said that in practice this meant a “soft launch” of EES for 6 months before “a full go live”. During that soft launch EU member states and the UK could deploy flexibility measures should problems occur.

“The likelihood is, after multiple delays, that the 6th of October will proceed” and the implementation looks “very different” compared to previous scenarios considering the flexibility allowed in the first 6 months, he argued.

No details were given on what these “flexible” measures would involve however. 

READ ALSO: Your questions answered about Europe’s EES passport checks

He conceded that “a lot of work” still needs to be done but the UK “should be as ready as everybody” and “better be at front of the queue”.

App not ready

During the meeting, it also emerged that a much-anticipated app that would allow remote pre-registration of non-EU citizens subject to the checks will not be available for testing until August “at best”, prompting concerns about the EES launch date.

“You don’t need to be a sceptic about future projects to think that the provision of the app in August for going live in October is optimistic,” Opperman said.

Ministers confirmed that the app will not be ready in time for October and the committee previously stated it might be delayed until summer 2025.

The app will facilitate pre-registration, but photo and fingerprints will still have to be taken at the border in front of a guard, the committee heard.

READ ALSO: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Several MPs asked whether the entry into operation of the EES should be delayed again if technology is not ready. But Under-Secretary Opperman said the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

The main aim of EES is to increase security and to ensure that non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area for a short-term do not stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

The entry into operation of the system has already been delayed several times and there have been calls from certain travel companies and national authorities to delay it again.

Under the new scheme, non-EU/EFTA travellers who do not need a visa will have to register their biometric data (finger prints and facial images) in a database that will also record each time they enter and exit the Schengen area.

Instead of having passports manually stamped, travellers will have to scan them at self-service kiosks before crossing the border. However, fingerprints and a photo will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing and there are concerns the extra time needed will generate long queues, especially in Dover, Folkestone and St. Pancras station in London, where there are juxtaposed French and UK border checks.

Progress in preparations

Minister Pursglove also updated MPs on ongoing preparations. He said some testing of the system will take place within days, 5 kiosks have been installed at St. Pancras station and are available for testing. “You are beginning to see the physical infrastructure appear,” he said.

Kiosks and extra lanes are also being created at the port Dover and it was agreed with the EU passengers travelling by coach will be checked away from the Eastern dock, where controls usually take place, allowing to gain space. The vehicles will then sealed and drive on the ferries.

MPs also discussed the infrastructure cost linked to the introduction of the EES. Opperman said all EU countries will have to make “huge investments” in their ports. In the UK, he argued, this will help “address problems that have existed for some time”. Because of this “massive investment”, in a few years time “Dover will be totally transformed,” he said.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

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