The health passport for people over 65 will be deactivated from December 15 in the absence of a booster dose “6 months and 5 weeks” after the previous injection of the vaccine against COVID-19, the door said on Wednesday. – speech of the French government Gabriel Attal.
“On December 15, the health passport will be deactivated for people over 65 who took their second dose more than 6 months and 5 weeks ago and who have not recalled,” said on Franceinfo the Secretary of State after the announcement made the day before by President Emmanuel Macron.
Faced with the epidemic rebound, Mr. Macron had put pressure on seniors to be injected with a booster dose, under penalty of losing their health passport as of December 15.
“The 40% increase in the incidence rate in one week is a warning signal”, insisted the head of state during a speech, also appealing to the unvaccinated to be vaccinated. “It is thanks to the booster that we can continue to live,” he added, while studies show a drop in vaccine effectiveness after a few months.
Mr. Attal confirmed that people with comorbidities, also encouraged to make a recall after six months, are not affected by the deactivation of the health pass for “legal and technical reasons”.
The health passport is a document justifying its vaccination status or a recent negative test, required for many acts of everyday life such as going to a restaurant, cafe, cinema, certain transport, etc. Many French people are now used to presenting their mobile phone (in which the document can be placed) on a daily basis.
“Thanks to vaccination, we have erected a wall against the serious forms of the virus, we have 75% of French people who are completely vaccinated, this wall must not crack,” argued the spokesperson.
For his part, the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, announced on Wednesday that he had, on the instructions of the president, asked the prefects to tighten the controls of the health pass. The Ministry of National Education has also announced the return of the wearing of the compulsory mask in elementary school from Monday throughout France.