SANITARY PASS. Monday, August 1, 2022, a new health law comes into force. This provides in particular for the establishment of a travel health certificate to protect against Covid. What happens to the health pass as we know it?
[Mise à jour le 27 juillet 2022 à 15h18] The new health bill called “health monitoring and safety”, including provisions for a partial return of the health pass, was definitively adopted by the Senate on July 26, 2022 and comes into force on August 1. In its version retouched by the senators, article 2 provides for partial recourse to the health pass only at the borders of metropolitan France in the event of a new variant, under the name of “travel health certificate”. A similar check for travelers to the DOM-TOMs could be considered only in the event of “risk of saturation” of the overseas health system. It is therefore not a question of a return to the health pass at the borders strictly speaking.
In addition, the new health bill which takes effect on August 1 no longer mentions a health pass, nor vaccination pass moreover, which means that it will never again be required in the places in France where it was in force (health and medico-social services and establishments in particular), unless it is necessary to pass a new law.
The health pass as we knew it at the borders of the country is no more. A new system has been put in place by the government to manage the epidemic of Covid-19 in the event of the appearance of a new variant from August 1, 2022 until January 31, 2023, governed by the new law known as “health monitoring and safety”. Thus, the executive will be able to request a travel health certificate at the borders of metropolitan France. It may also be requested in the DOM-TOMs, only in the event of saturation of the local health system.
The health pass involved three pieces of evidence (complete vaccination schedule, Covid-19 recovery certificate or negative Covid-19 test). However, the device that replaces it at the borders of France from August 1, 2022, called travel health certificate, consists only of a Covid-19 screening test for travelers from foreign countries, without mentioning vaccination. compulsory or recovery from Covid-19 and provided that a new dangerous variant has appeared.
Is the health pass still necessary to travel?
From the moment your trip takes place in France, the health or vaccination pass is no longer required to take the plane, a train or a long-distance bus since March 14, 2022. But if you are traveling to Abroad, the health rules are different depending on the country of destination. Some member countries of the European Union may require a negative test, proof of vaccination or a certificate of recovery from Covid-19. It is advisable to inquire beforehand about the France Diplomacy website. To travel to countries such as Portugal, Spain, Germany or Italy for example, it is still mandatory to present an EU digital COVID certificate.
How to get the EU digital COVID certificate?
To travel to one of the member countries of the European Union, an EU digital COVID certificate is required for travelers aged 12 and over. Since February 1, 2022, it is obtained by one of these three proofs:
- A vaccination certificate : if you have an initial vaccination schedule (one dose of Janssen vaccine or two doses of Moderna, AstraZeneca or Pfizer), the digital EU COVID certificate is valid from the 14th day to the 9th month (270 days exactly) “depending on the ‘administration of the last dose of the primary vaccination schedule’ specifies the official website of the European Union. If you have taken a booster dose (for travelers over 18 in addition to the initial vaccination schedule), then your digital EU COVID certificate has no validity limit at this time.
- A test result negative for Covid-19 : antigen test valid for 24 hours or RT-PCR test valid for 72 hours. However, it is advisable to check the period of validity of the negative test required according to the European country via the France Diplomacy website.
- A certificate of reinstatement at Covid-19 : valid from the 14th day to the 9th month (270 days exactly) “following the first and only dose after the recovery of an infected person” specifies the official website of the European Union. In addition, people who have recovered from Covid-19 within 180 days of traveling to the European Union have a valid Covid-19 recovery certificate.
These rules only apply to vaccination certificates used for the purpose of traveling within the European Union, which are checked at borders. They are not the same in a national context.