Covid-19: 3 questions about the deactivation of health passes Saturday January 15

The government had warned. From this Saturday, the hundreds of thousands of French people who have not taken their booster dose of the covid-19 vaccine on time will see their health pass deactivated and will thus be prevented from accessing certain public places such as restaurants and cafes. Announced at the end of November by the government, this measure was formalized on the eve of its entry into force in a decree published in Official newspaper. Who will be concerned and how to keep their health pass beyond January 15? LCI takes stock.

Those over 65 already know the song, since the measure has applied to them since December 15. This Saturday, the health pass of all those over 18 who have not taken their booster dose within seven months of their last injection and who do not have a certificate of recovery will become invalid. Concretely, since it takes seven days after the injection of the booster dose for it to be taken into account, only those who were stung before January 8 will be able to keep their passport.

Please note, from February 15, the seven-month period will be reduced to four months, as announced by the Minister of Health Olivier Véran in an interview published in the JDD January 2. “From February 15, it will be necessary to carry out [la dose de rappel] four months – and no longer seven – after his second dose to have a complete vaccination schedule”, he explained.

After estimating on Tuesday at 800,000 the number of French people affected by the deactivation of their health pass, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran revised this figure downwards on Wednesday on franceinfo. “We have approximately between 500 and 700,000 (people) who, two days ago, had not yet received their reminder”, he said, adding that the number of passes deactivated on January 15 would undoubtedly be lower.

And for good reason, “among these 500 to 700,000, there is a significant number who have presented an infection and who have not yet put proof of their infection in their Tous Anti Covid system”. Indeed, holding a certificate of recovery after contracting covid-19 extends the validity of the pass by six months.

For those who find themselves without a health pass tomorrow, there are several options to reactivate it. Make an appointment and receive your booster dose, have a certificate attesting to a medical contraindication to vaccination or attesting to a recovery from Covid-19 are part of it. Presenting a PCR or antigen test less than 24 hours old is also possible.

But these rules could change if the vaccine pass wanted by the government comes into force. Thus, negative screening tests may no longer be accepted to access certain places.