France votes in favor of vaccinations as legal requirement for traveling and eating out – Explainer
The French government voted today to convert its existing health passports into vaccine passports, meaning people need to be fully vaccinated to legally use transport services and enter public places, bars and restaurants. Negative Covid-19 test results will no longer be sufficient to enter these places.
People need to continue to be fully vaccinated in order to keep the pass valid – which means residents and visitors are also fully vaccinated with the latest booster vaccine.According to reports, it is likely to become law from mid-January 2022 Bloomberg.
What is the current health pass?
European countries have been using health passes to travel freely across borders since summer 2021 – meaning anyone 1) fully vaccinated, 2) has been infected with Covid-19 or 3) can show evidence of a negative Covid-19 test The result was allowed to transit freely as an EU citizen.
In most EU countries, these health passes are currently used to enter public places such as cinemas and museums. In many countries, restaurants, bars and cafes are also obliged to use them.
Tourists can enter the EU by presenting their own vaccination certificates, such as those provided by the CDC, but in many cases these certificates must be converted into health passes in the countries visited to allow visitors access to restaurants and bars.
For example, in France, pharmacies have joined a program to convert CDC vaccine certificates into French health pass, so that Americans can go out to eat, drink in bars, and watch movies. NHS passes used in the UK are also accepted in France, but no conversion is required.
What is France’s new vaccine pass?
The French government voted today to convert the requirement of a health pass into a vaccine pass (vaccination certificate), which will affect people who have not been vaccinated or received their latest Covid-19 booster.
This new vaccine pass will no longer be valid for people who test negative – they need to be fully vaccinated to eat out, drink, and especially travel, take long-distance trains or buses.
The bill still needs to be approved by the Senate, but the government hopes to enact it into law by mid-January. More details on how that will work will be released when the Senate approves the bill. It reportedly took three days for the French parliament to approve the bill by a vote of 214 to 93, with 27 abstentions. France 24.
Almost 90% of the French population over the age of 12 is currently vaccinated, with 45.5% of those over the age of 12 receiving a booster shot. From January 15, everyone over the age of 18 must receive a booster shot to be considered “fully” vaccinated.
The move comes after French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters this week, “Unvaccinated people, I really want to piss them off” –can be translated into Wants to ‘piss off’ the unvaccinated.
Parts of Europe are increasingly moving towards mandatory vaccinations – as in Italy for those over 50 – or as is the case in France, making everyday life without vaccinations more difficult.
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