It’s official: the vaccination pass will come into force this Monday in France. Seized by the opposition, and the only authority capable of putting a stop to this controversial bill, the constitutionnal Council validated most of the provisions on Friday, including possible identity checks by cafeterias or restaurateurs, in the name of the objective of “health protection” in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic. “The refusal of the person to produce such a document can have no other consequence than the impossibility for him to access this place”, note the Sages.
The Constitutional Council, on the other hand, censored the request for a health pass (proof of vaccination, cure or, unlike the vaccine, negative screening) at the entrance to political meetings. The organizers will however be able to take “all useful health precautionary measures, such as limiting the number of participants, distributing masks or ventilating the rooms”.
To justify this partial censorship, the Constitutional Council noted that the parliamentarians did not condition the pass in the meetings to the “health situation”. The measure was introduced via an LR amendment in committee in the Assembly on December 29, with the support of the majority. This decision may therefore change in the future.
A time-limited device
However, the Council warns the government on two points. The coordinated request for a vaccination pass and a negative screening cannot be requested in the case of interregional transport (buses, planes, trains).
Finally, the government is asked, still with regard to the vaccination pass, that “it be ended as soon as[il] will no longer be necessary”, imagining an application until July 31, at the most, without being definitive on this point.
The day before, during a press conference, Prime Minister Jean Castex recalled the executive’s desire to end the pass when the situation in hospitals improves. When the Covid-19 epidemic will no longer lead to medical “postponement of interventions” in establishments.
As a reminder: from Monday, those over 16 must provide proof of vaccination status to access leisure activities, restaurants and bars, fairs or interregional public transport. A negative test will no longer suffice, except to access health facilities and services. The pass is conditional on obtaining a third dose, and from February 15, a maximum of four months after the second (instead of seven previously).