As part of the fight against covid-19, the French government announced on June 9 that the health pass is mandatory in certain areas of the country. From July 21, its use will be extended to more public places.
However, many French people have not yet understood all the ins and outs of such a document. What is it really for? What is it exactly? How do you get it?
Well, well, well! If you find yourself in any of these questions, then here is what you need to know. Let’s start by finding out what a health passport is and what it is used for.
What is a health pass?
A health pass, despite its misleading name, is not a single document. You have to see it as a kind of “pocket”.
That is to say, a file which makes it possible to verify your vaccination status. It represents the result of a negative test or a certificate of recovery that allows a person to access a gathering or an event of more than 1000 people.
Now that we understand where the sanitary pass stems from, let’s discuss the different modalities that make it up.
What are the new provisions related to the “health pass”?
The “health pass” incorporates several provisions, namely:
The “health activity pass”
It is implemented as part of the national reopening plan. It makes it possible to limit the risks of epidemic spread. It minimises the probability of contamination in risky situations and therefore alleviates pressure on the healthcare system, while allowing the gradual reopening of certain activities or places in addition to the health protocols specific to each sector.
July 21, 2021:
- “health passes” are extended to all places of leisure and culture bringing together more than 50 people;
Early August :
- The “health pass” will be extended to cafes, restaurants, shopping centres, hospitals, retirement homes, medico-social establishments, as well as travel by plane, train and coach for long-distance journeys. Other places may be added to this list later, depending on the epidemic situation,
- The “border health pass” is implemented as part of the European green certificate and border health control. It makes it possible to secure entry into the metropolitan territory, to facilitate the implementation of health control measures at the borders as well as to fight against the falsification of documentary evidence.
Is the health pass compulsory or not?
Although the TousAntiCovid application has not been compulsory, the health pass was recently made compulsory for people going to cultural or leisure establishments bringing together more than 1,000 people, and to travel in Corsica, overseas or in France.
Regarding access to offices, bars, restaurants and museums, the government has decided to dispense with this health pass, focusing on “satisfactory vaccination coverage of the population” for reopening. “We must not prevent people from living”, explained Emmanuel Macron, about the use of this health pass.
The health pass: do children have access to it?
The health pass is only compulsory from the age of 11. Under the care of parents or guardians, minors must perform a virological or antigen test for Covid-19 in order to obtain the vaccine. The vaccination is currently only open to over 18s.
The exception is young people aged 16-17 who are considered “vulnerable to a very high risk of Covid-19 or close to immunodeficient people”. Parents can register their children’s certificates in the TousAntiCovid mobile application.
How to get your health pass?
For the unvaccinated, you must present a negative PCR or antigen test of less than 48 or 72 hours, or a certificate of recovery from Covid-19. For the vaccinated, it is necessary to justify a complete cycle of vaccination (2 doses for the vaccines requiring it).
Both doses are needed for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines (one dose only for Johnson & Johnson vaccine).
In addition, the immunity period after the last injection must be respected (14 days for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, 28 days for Johnson & Johnson). As for single injections for people who have already had Covid-19, an immunity period of 2 weeks after the injection should be followed.
How is the health pass controlled?
Security services, event organisers, airlines, police and customs, are all trained to check the health pass to control access to venues with more than 1,000 people.
Using the TousAntiCovid Verified reader application, they can check the validity of the health pass by scanning the users’ QR codes.
The application indicates the following information: “valid pass” or “invalid pass” and “name, first name”, without any other health information. However, an alternative version of the TousAntiCovid Verification is offered to airlines, which has more “detailed” content, with the date and type of vaccination. Professionals not authorised to control the health pass incur a penalty of one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.
