# Yikes! Will I qualify for a French vaccine pass?



## GraceS

Hi All--

Early US retiree heading to France in late February on a long stay visa. I've been reviewing the details of the French vaccine pass, and I think I may have a problem. 

I had a:
First dose of Moderna in ,mid-April, 2021
Second dose of Moderna in mid-May 2021 
Booster dose of Moderna in late December, 2021 (7 months, one week after the second dose)

I've kept a close eye on the vaccine requirements to *enter* France, and I qualify for entry, no problem. But in reviewing the *Vaccine Pass *requirements, and it appears that one must have had a booster shot within 7 months of the original vaccine (in my case, the second Moderna dose). But I had my booster 7 months and one week after completing the main doses. Does this really mean I'll be denied a Vaccine Pass? Where I live in the US, it wasn't possible to get a booster any sooner. 

And in researching this, I saw that the US Embassy in Paris just updated their website alerts to draw attention to this:

"In order to continue to be considered as fully vaccinated, persons aged eighteen or over must have received a dose of an mRNA vaccine no later than 9 months following the injection of the last required dose.
Please note that the above only applies to the rules to enter France. Different rules apply to receiving the vaccine pass. As a reminder, the vaccine pass requires a booster shot for people age 18 and older within seven months (until February 15, when this become four months) after their second shot. Due to this difference, it is possible for a person to be considered fully vaccinated to enter France, but not fully vaccinated to receive the vaccine pass Health Alert - U.S. Embassy Paris, France (2/4/2022) - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in France (usembassy.gov)
*
So, will I have a problem getting a Vaccine Pass?*


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## 255

@GraceS -- I do not know the actual answer, but I do not think you'll have a problem. Procedure for non-European nationals to obtain a valid Covid certificate in France. I read all the same information, that you did, but in all I've read on this forum, over the years, the French are not nearly as literal as Americans.

Myself and my wife are in the exact same boat as you (other than being late vice early retirees.) My wife and I also received our Moderna boosters after 7 months due to sickness (fortunately tested negative for COVID) and appointment time availability. Both plausible reasons to not meet "the letter of the law." We're not worried! Cheers, 255

P.S. The rules are always changing. The researchers are constantly trying to tweak the vaccine formulas to be more efficient. Israel is already requiring a second booster (so 4 jabs in total.) I'd say just keep up to date with the requirements and be prepared to explain your situation, if required.


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## BackinFrance

In France if you get your booster later than within the required timeframe, your vaccine pass is reinstated, so I don't believe you will have a problem.


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## Bevdeforges

In any event, you have your booster dose. When you get here and start getting settled in, go see the local pharmacist and ask them if they can process a vaccination pass for you. (Get friendly with your local pharmacist - they are a major source of practical information on all sorts of health and beauty related topics.) If they can't, they may well be able to tell you what you need to do to get one - or they can send you to someone who can help you. Ideally, it would be nice if you could wait until you get registered with CPAM (i.e. for your French medical cover) because they retain all that information for you in your online file once you're in the system. 

But just for the record, I've had my pass for a couple of months now (i.e. since getting my booster shot in early December) and have never had to show it. While you can't hit the bars and restaurants without one, you're still fine for going into all the various shops, banks, etc. that you'll need to deal with in the early weeks of getting yourself set up.


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## Poloss

Olivier Véran, the health minister, announced on BFM TV news channel on 2nd February
that henceforth "one infection (by covid 19) will be considered equivalent to one vaccin shot.

In an effort to simplify the rules to help French citizens to understand better how the vaccin pass works,
he came up with the following:

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1488978006135783429
*Être "stimulé trois fois"*
_"Une infection égale une dose", a affirmé le ministre de la Santé sur le plateau de BFM TV. Le gouvernement a décidé de simplifier toutes les règles pour que les Français comprennent mieux le fonctionnement du pass vaccinal. "Pour bénéficier du pass, il faut que notre système immunitaire ait été stimulé au moins trois fois. Une stimulation, ça peut être une injection de vaccin ou ça peut être une infection. Au minimum, *il faut avoir reçu une dose de vaccin pour renforcer l'immunité*", a expliqué Olivier Véran, et cela sans limitation de temps, "jusqu'à ce qu'une limite soit fixée si la situation évolue etc." Cette règle est seulement appliquée aux personnes qui ont commencé leur schéma vaccinal.

*Une règle qui s'applique aux vaccinés*
"Si vous n'avez pas eu du tout d'injection de vaccin, même si vous avez eu trois fois une infection, ce qui est pas de chance mais ça peut arriver, il faut quand même une dose de vaccin", a précisé Olivier Véran, avant d'ajouter : "En revanche, si vous avez eu une seule dose de vaccin et une seule infection, c'est là que *vous avez 4 mois pour avoir votre rappel* pour que ça corresponde (...) Une injection égale une infection". Malgré cette analyse, Olivier Véran recommande tout de même aux Français d'effectuer leur dose de rappel, même s'ils ont été infectés par le virus entre-temps._


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## conky2

You could always fly in via Serbia, where I believe they offer a service to 'doctor your date of vaccination' according to your specific needs. e.g. a tennis tournament.


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## GraceS

Thanks 255, BIF, Bev, Poloss, and even conky2!

I looked around a bit more, and even normally reliable websites all have very different of interpretations about exactly what the rules are. Seems like it turns on the question of whether the rule is meant to *describe* what already-vaxxed and boosted people should have gotten--or whether it's meant to *prescribe* what the non-vaxxed and boosted will now need to do to get and keep a vaccine pass. 

Hoping that, as 255 and BiF suggest, a vaxxed and boosted person won't have a problem getting a pass. And, as Poloss' Veran quote indicates, what's really important is having had the three shots.


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## BackinFrance

Don't worry about it if you have already had a the booster because the current timeframe and the shorter one that comes into effect on 15 February does not apply to you. You have had 2 shots plus the booster and that is all you need, unless they decide on a 4th shot, which seems unlikely at this time.


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## Englishman-in-Paris

So here is an interesting question about the new rules:
I got COVID last month after 2 injections. But I only got a positive antigen test, not a PCR. I read that you need a positive PCR test to travel to the UK, so I didn't qualify.
But then, as posted by GraceS above, Olivier Véran announced that 2 injections plus a positive test (antigen or PCR) is enough for a Pass Vacinale.
The question is : once I get the Pass Vacinal in my wallet, will that be sufficient to travel to the UK? My guess is "yes", since I can't see the border police looking into the details of the pass to see how I qualified. But because it is based on an antigen positive test, there is maybe a small risk.
Thoughts?


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## EuroTrash

BackinFrance said:


> In France if you get your booster later than within the required timeframe, your vaccine pass is reinstated, so I don't believe you will have a problem.


I agree, the interval doesn't seem to matter.
Having had my second jab in France in late May, I then had my booster in Wales at the end of November. When I got back to France I asked the phamacien to add the booster to my pass - which he did but somehow instead of showing the date I received the booster, the pass shows the date on which it was updated ie the middle of January. So according to my pass, there was a very long gap between the second jab in May and the booster in January. But the pass scans as valid.


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## BackinFrance

As Bev says, you will still need to get your French vaccine pass, this is usually via a pharmacy and of course you will need to present your US vaccination documentation, BUT you definitely qualify now and also under the February 15 rules.


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## GraceS

Thanks, ET for the example. And BiF, I appreciate the clarification. I will definitely follow Bev's advice to get to know a neighborhood pharmacist as a great source of help with more than just the vaccine pass. 

Appreciate all the responses.


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## andthushesaid

@GraceS Do you have any French friends or family members? If so, you can simply send them PDF versions of your vaccination card and any other supplementary materials you have (the more, the better) and have one of them stop in for you. Only necessary if you want to get ahead of things, but the government websites even state that the only way is through an approved French pharmacy. My husband did this two months ago for me and had no issue. He sent me a photo of the vaccine pass, and I used the QR code on it to register on the TousAntiCovid app.

He also told me the same thing that @Bevdeforges mentioned. It will likely only be necessary if you are going to any massive events (e.g. concerts, the opera, sports events, etc.)—Cheers!


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## Bellthorpe

The Government tells you which pharmacies can issue a vaccine pass. Go to this page and search for 'Où obtenir une attestation d’équivalence vaccinale' ?


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