A weapon criticized by the government against the Omicron variant, the vaccination pass replaces the health pass on Monday January 24 and becomes compulsory for people over 16 wishing to go to a restaurant or take the train.

Most of the provisions of the bill - definitively adopted on January 16 by Parliament after heated debates - were validated on Friday by the Constitutional Council, with the exception, in the midst of the presidential campaign, of the possibility of requiring a pass sanitation at political rallies.

From this Monday, a negative test is no longer sufficient, except to access health establishments and services: for those over 16 years of age, proof of vaccination against Covid-19 must be provided in order to have access to activities of leisure, restaurants and bars (except collective catering), fairs or interregional public transport (planes, trains, coaches). 

"The vaccination pass changes the situation and will allow normal activities to resume again", highlighted Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister Delegate for SMEs and Tourism, Sunday on Europe 1, adding: "Last summer, the sanitary pass is what allowed us to face a wave and to keep open a certain number of businesses: well there it is the same.

Towards the end of the restrictions

For Sammy, a waiter in a café in the Pigalle district in Paris, "this new pass will frankly not change anything because most customers are vaccinated. And February will be there quickly with the start of the lifting of restrictions", the government having notably announced the end of wearing a mask outdoors and compulsory teleworking on February 2, then the reopening of nightclubs and the return of consumption at the counter on February 16.

If the law now authorizes the managers of establishments to check the identity of customers in the event of doubt about the pass presented, “never in my life will I do that!” exclaims the Parisian waiter.

An opinion shared by the manager of the Lille bar Les Arts, César Armand: "of course sometimes we have doubts when we look at the date of birth and the person's head does not match, but I am not a police officer".

It is difficult to estimate the number of people who will be deprived of a pass, insofar as this will imply both not being vaccinated and not having had Covid in the last few months.

With AFP

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