• In place since August 9 in France, is the health pass living its last weeks in the country?

  • In any case, this is what the Scientific Council recommends, which is considering two avenues for abandoning the health pass in an opinion published this Thursday.

  • How to ensure that this flagship measure is withdrawn without risking an epidemic rebound?

    "20 Minutes" takes stock.

Flashing your QR code at the slightest entry into an enclosed space may soon be a distant memory. The health pass, announced on July 12 by Emmanuel Macron and implemented on August 9 in France (September 30 for minors over 12 years old), is increasingly contested, among a massively vaccinated population - 87.6 % of people eligible for the vaccine have received at least one dose - and in a country with fewer than 4,500 cases per day, with the incidence falling to 46 as of Thursday.

There remain the two essential questions: how to put an end to this tool without risking an epidemic rebound?

The coronavirus health crisis is full of examples of measures lifted too early that have led to new waves, and a return to even stronger restrictions than those previously put in place.

20 Minutes

takes stock.

What does the Scientific Council recommend?

In its latest opinion made public this Thursday, the Scientific Council proposes two scenarios: a rapid exit from the health pass in the next two to three weeks, if the health situation remains good and the decline continues, or a more cautious exit after a period of of "preparation", between November 15 and the end of the year. This preparation phase would allow in particular "the continuation of the vaccination of the oldest and at risk people", whether it concerns first vaccinations or third booster doses.

The Scientific Council rejects “the scenarios of departmental or regional variation of lifting of the health pass, according to observed epidemiological indicators”, favoring a national approach, considered much more understandable for the population.

Gabriel Attal, government spokesperson, settled this debate on Thursday, confirming that the health pass would be extended at least until November 15.

Why was the minimum date of November 15 chosen?

If the precise date is arbitrary, it is not due to chance either. On November 15, autumn will already be well established, enough to see whether or not there has been a possible epidemic rebound. For the moment, the start of the school year and the drop in temperatures have not led to a surge in cases and hospitalizations as last year. "It is now a question of consolidating this lull to see if it persists and does not disappear with the cooling of the weather and therefore the increase in indoor activities, the autumn holidays, and the return to the office of employees who were in teleworking ”, so many factors likely to create a new wave, estimates Mickaël Ehrminger, medical specialist in public health questioned by

20 Minutes

.

Another argument cited by the specialist, from October 15, tests will no longer be reimbursed except on medical indication: "We can fear a decrease in the detection of cases which would promote an upsurge in transmissions. "Waiting a month after this unprecedented measure (the tests have always been free in France) makes it possible to verify that it does not undermine the fight against the epidemic. Here again, the health crisis will have taught us that it is more prudent to modify the measures one by one to avoid unpleasant surprises.

November 15 also leaves an interval of six weeks before the end of the year, "allowing to operate a communication on the release of the device and anticipate the problems that could arise in order to be able to respond effectively as soon as it is. necessary, without reacting in an emergency with last resort measures ”, supports Mickaël Ehrminger.

How to get out of the health pass?

In its quick scenario, the Health Council proposed removing the health pass first only in the least risky places, citing "outdoor restaurants, cultural places with the exception of concerts, shopping centers, trains, etc."

An idea that Mickaël Ehrminger finds counterproductive, because for him, the problem is no longer so much the place but the untested population: “The health pass as it exists today is of little use.

Indeed, for the vaccinated people, no test is necessary whereas they can be contaminated and contaminating.

However, as a large majority of the population is vaccinated, logically most of the infected will be vaccinated people.

"

Among the population affected by the health pass, 85% have received their two doses and therefore only need to flash the same QR code repeatedly without being tested.

A judgment that the Scientific Council joined in filigree, noting itself "the limited effectiveness of the health pass as a protective measure".

A choice by place is therefore to be excluded for the public health doctor, and if we consider that the vaccinated still do not have to test themselves to enter closed places, it is better according to him, purely and simply to remove the sanitary pass. .

So back to the first question: when?

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Coronavirus: The Scientific Council recommends a smooth exit from the health pass

  • epidemic

  • Anti-covid vaccine

  • Vaccination

  • Health

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Health pass