A new turn of the screw in the fight against Covid-19. The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, announced Friday, December 17 that the health pass, launched in June 2021, would be replaced by a vaccination pass at the beginning of the year 2022. One way to encourage vaccination, while France is doing facing a fifth epidemic wave marked by the emergence of the worrying variant Omicron.
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Access conditions, calendar, places concerned: franceinfo answers four questions about this new sesame.
1What will this change?
For this new version of the pass, only one criterion will allow activation: having followed a complete vaccination schedule. Clearly, it will be necessary to have received one or two doses (depending on the case) during the primary vaccination, as well as a booster dose. It has been available free of charge for all adults and minors concerned since November 27.
The fact of having carried out a negative PCR or antigen test will no longer be taken into account. As for the recovery certificate, which attests to a recent recovery from Covid-19, “consultations” must be organized to decide whether or not it will allow the future pass to be activated. “We assume to put the constraint on the unvaccinated, explained Jean Castex, because the critical care and resuscitation departments of our hospitals are mostly filled with unvaccinated people. ”
According to the latest data from the health authorities, more than 8 million people have already received their booster dose in France. A campaign which is far from having fulfilled its objective, because more than 2.7 million eligible people are still missing. As for the unvaccinated, they are nearly 6 million in France, and should be the subject of campaigns “to go to”, announced Jean Castex, who primarily targets “(the) populations who have been able to miss vaccination due to ignorance or because they are traditionally the furthest removed from the healthcare system”.
2When will this new pass be implemented?
No launch date has yet been put forward by the government, as many major points must be the subject of parliamentary debate. During his speech, Jean Castex announced that a bill would be examined “at the beginning of January, in particular to transform the health pass into a vaccination pass”. The government also wishes“Tighten the conditions of control and sanctions against false passes.” According to information from France Télévisions, this bill will be examined at the first Council of Ministers next year, on January 5, 2022, and should be debated in the National Assembly the following week.
While waiting for this new vaccination pass, it is to the calendar of the health pass that we must refer. And especially on the deadline of January 15, from which it will be necessary to have received a booster dose to keep his health pass. Otherwise, it will be necessary to justify a negative test of less than 24 hours or a certificate of recovery. A final criterion which, as we recall, will perhaps no longer be taken into account in the future vaccination pass.
3Will the list of locations affected change?
This issue has not yet been decided. LThe vaccine pass will concern leisure places (such as restaurants and cinemas), but not businesses, France Télévisions learned from Matignon. A position that is however debated within the government. Asked Saturday morning on France Inter, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, did not say he was opposed to the idea “a health pass to go to work “, adding that he wished parliamentarians to be able to reflect on this subject as well as on the possibility of combining identity control and health pass control, to fight more effectively against fraud.
Last but not least: will this vaccine pass be required to access transport? Again, this issue will be the subject of a parliamentary debate, said Matignon.
4Will we still be able to enter places with restricted access without being vaccinated?
No, and that’s a position clearly “assumed” by the government. “The goal is to save lives. We don’t do this to punish anyone“, Olivier Véran assured Saturday on France Inter. We do not want to place additional strain on the French who have been vaccinated. ” Not a punishment, but a strong incentive to get vaccinated, as he reiterated in an interview with Brut media.
.@olivierveran on Brut: “The vaccination pass is a disguised form of compulsory vaccination”. #passvaccinal pic.twitter.com/iwNULeSjE6
– Brut FR (@brutofficiel) December 18, 2021
For the minister, the transition from a health pass to a vaccination pass “should allow us to avoid interrupting daily activities for the 91% of French people who are already vaccinated“. A new measure which, mathematically, will considerably limit the activities of the remaining 9%.