In France, vaccinated people holding the TousAntiCovid phone app may have seen a new document available on their profile: a health pass enabling them to access to very crowded places (such as festivals, stadiums, or fairs), proving they have been immunized against Covid-19.
This health pass also enables them to travel outside France's borders, and especially in Europe. The 27 EU members have worked together to come up with a EU health pass to keep tourists safe this summer and smoother travels.
State Secretary Jean-Yves Le Drian announced this Monday May 24 on LCI this EU pass will be available from July 1, 2021. "It is an entrance facilitator, but not a right", the minister added.
Available on paper and digitally, the certificate enables travelers to cross borders more easily on three conditions: they must provide a negative screen test, a vaccination certificate, or proof they have been contaminated by the virus over two weeks ago in the past six months. "In this EU health pass, there will be a vaccine or a test, but not both", Clément Beaune adds on May 24 on BFMTV.
The EU has also planned to come up with a list of countries more or less dangerous, ranked by colors as France planned to do. This list is made for travelers not living in Europe. Countries ranked in green only require a negative Covid test to tourists wishing to enter their EU territory. Countries in orange will make "citizens from this non-EU countries to have a vaccine". Last but not least, a red list will give countries banned from entering Europe "because of the severity of variants", such as Brazil and India at the moment.
Countries this health pass applies to are those in the European Union and within the Schengen area namely: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lituania, Luxembourg, the Nertherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
In France, this EU health pass will be available as a QR code avaialble in your smartphone and also available on the TousAntiCovid app. A paper version can also be resquested. Beaune yet added Sputnik and Sinopharm vaccines will not be approved by the EU health authorities, they cannot get you the pass.
There is still a topic oppopsing EU state members: does the health pass enable not to go into a self-isolation period? Some countries would rather keep their sovereign power on this protective measure. Quarantine might be compulsory for travelers, especially in the event of variants breaking out in their countries.
Dates and Opening Time
Starts July 1, 2021
