Vaccine pass: what is included in the bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday

The government has accelerated the schedule. The text of the bill will be presented this Wednesday by the Laws Committee of the National Assembly, following a hearing with the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The text will then be discussed in the Senate Chamber from January 5, 2022, its entry into force being scheduled for January 15.

If the bill mainly concerns on the creation of a “vaccine pass” and its terms, it contains other provisions such as strengthening controls and sanctions in the event of fraud. Subject to amendments to the National Assembly, here is a short summary of the main aspects of the text.

Introduced last May, and extended in August to many activities of daily life, the health pass has been replaced by a vaccination pass, reserved only for people who can attest to a complete vaccination schedule. This is the heart of the text, in line with the government strategy in the face of the epidemic, now focused above all on vaccination. The vaccination pass will therefore be payable by anyone over the age of twelve, for access to bars and restaurants, to all cultural or sporting leisure activities, to fairs and trade shows, as well as to interregional transport. . The prefects will also be justified in imposing it, or not, for access to shopping centers.

All professionals working in the cases mentioned are also required to have a pass, and therefore to be fully vaccinated. However, they may have a “transitory pass” if they demonstrate that they have started a vaccination course.

The health pass as we have known it until now will nevertheless remain sufficient to access institutions for the care or accommodation of the elderly. A proof of vaccination, the result of a negative test or a certificate of recovery from Covid-19, will thus allow everyone, visitors, patients or caregivers, to access these places.

The bill presented on Wednesday also widens the possibilities of checking the pass: the professional of a site accessible on its presentation will be able to request an identity document from its holder. The drafters of the draft recall that similar regulations already exist for payments by check, or the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.

Sanctions against offenders will also be tightened, both for holders of a false pass, and for professionals who do not control them. From the first offense, a fine of 1500 euros may be applied.

Held to know health situations already worrying, and that the current epidemic wave could worsen, Reunion and Martinique see the state of emergency extended until March 31, 2022. The text also anticipates the possibility, depending on the health situation, to extend it also to other overseas communities.

According to a parliamentary source contacted by LCI, more than 100 amendments had already been tabled on the eve of the text’s arrival in the Assembly. Three-quarters of them would come from France Insoumise, and would aim at the abolition of the vaccine pass. Several amendments were also tabled by the Les Républicains group, including one which would establish the maintenance of a simple health pass as we know it for 12-17 year olds.

The LaREM group finally decided not to table an amendment to promulgate the vaccination pass in companies, as it had for a time been envisaged.

The government has made public the opinion delivered yesterday by the Council of State, who was cautious about the “necessity and proportionality” of the vaccination pass, but overall favorable to the text that the executive sends to the Assembly. Without contradicting the principle, the Council of State however noted that the vaccination pass “is likely to seriously undermine freedoms” and “can significantly limit the freedom to come, go and meet”, as well as “the right of collective expression of ideas and opinions”. However, the Council acts on “significantly different health context” of that which prevailed during the establishment of the sanitary pass.

Its expectations suggest that “the certificate of reinstatement” of Covid-19 can be considered “as a substitute for proof of vaccination status”. On the other hand, the application of the vaccination pass to 12-17 year olds seems to him, “a coherent choice”, as well as the “verification of the identity of customers by professionals” appears to him “necessary”.