France Introduces Digital Health Pass Available to Vaccinated Tourists
Use it to visit restaurants, bars, and local tourist spots.
Editor's Note:The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to fluctuate rapidly and impact communities all over the world. If you’re venturing out, triple-check the opening status, entry requirements, and safety protocols for both your destination and home city upon your return. Be safe out there.
Just because travel is back in some forms doesn't mean we can just go about our lives as if the pandemic never happened. That's especially true now that cases are once again surging due to the Delta variant. Luckily, for those who are fully vaccinated against the virus, traveling to Paris or Nice just got a little bit easier.
France is introducing a Digital Health Pass that allows vaccinated locals and visitors alike to go to restaurants, bars, even popular tourist attractions like the Eiffel Tower, Travel & Leisure reports. Without it, your access to these places is extremely limited. The new initiative, which also accepts negative COVID-19 test results rather than proof of vaccination, uses a QR code-based system. You can pick up a temporary digital health pass valid for 72 hours by just stopping by a local pharmacist and receiving a negative antigen test.
US travelers that are already in the country or arriving by Sunday, August 15, can apply for the pass by submitting a copy of their CDC vaccine card, passport, and airline tickets, according to the government. France is accepting vaccination cards for those with a full dose of Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, or AstraZeneca. It's not really clear what the process will look like beyond Sunday.
The pass is currently required for anyone 18 and older. It's expected to expand to 12 and older by September, per the report.