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Can I obtain a pass sanitaire with a photo of my original US vaccination card? And, if not...

Hello all - I searched but couldn't find an answer to this question. My wife and I are visiting the Netherlands (from NYC) until 15 January and are planning on going down to Paris for a weekend to see a classical music concert. Stupidly, with all our other preparation, we forgot to bring our original COVID vaccination cards from the US and we just found out the concert hall requires a pass sanitaire.

Has anyone had any experience trying to get a pass sanitaire using only a photo of the US vaccination card? Were you able to do it?

And, of not, I see that one can get a pass sanitaire with a new negative antigen or PCR test. If we go that route, is it best to wait until we arrive in Paris and are there pharmacies that will do both the test and issue the pass sanitaire? Or would we be better off bringing a negative result with us from Amsterdam.

Thanks in advance - I feel foolish for not remembering the cards, but that's where we're at so I'm hoping to find a solution.

Best,

Dan

Posted by
4137 posts

Do you have your excelsior pass plus ? If not you can get it online , only takes a minute . I'm not sure it would suffice , but it"s certainly worth a try .

Posted by
31 posts

Thanks for the quick reply! I do - and will show that - but have been told that they're not recognizing it.

Posted by
10118 posts

Does your state have a record of your vaccinations? In my state, I can log into the State Health Department where there are printable attestations of my vaccinations. You might check for that.

As for the antigen test, it will be valid for 24 hours, so take it in France. If you stay longer, you'll need another test, and again 24 hours after that.

Posted by
2537 posts

Hopefully, a pharmacy will not issue a vaccination QR code from a copy of one's CDC documentation. There is already too much fraud involved with the original documents (not implying that yours are), and photo copies of originals only increase the likelihood of someone's presenting fake documents.

https://www.sante.fr/how-to-obtain-a-french-health-pass

The French government has sent a number of signals that the pass sanitaire will be withdrawn at the beginning of the year. We expect an announcement on Monday, possibly addressing the issue. In its place will be a pass vaccination, a pass without the possibility of using Antigen tests for temporary validity giving access to cafés, restaurants, museums, and concert venues.

A solution would be to have someone express mail your CDC cards to you in the Netherlands.

Posted by
11027 posts

"excelsior pass plus"

1st time I have seen this term..... what is it?

Posted by
4137 posts

Joe , The excelsior pass ( and pass plus ) is the NY State dept. of health document confirming vaccination status. My three shots are all listed on my pass (accessible from my phone and / or print copy ) https://epass.ny.gov/home

Posted by
31 posts

OK, I now have my Excelsior Pass Plus, as well as my NYS vaccination records and a photo of my original vaccination card.

I will report back after 8 January (when I arrive from Amsterdam for a weekend visit).

Thanks to everyone for the info.

Posted by
31 posts

Looks like any changes - as announced today - won't take effect until after our travel dates, so I think we're good to go one way or another. I will bring a copy of my New York State vaccination records, the Excelsior Plus app, and photos of my vaccine card. If they opt not accept all of those, I'll take an antigen test that will cover both performances I'm scheduled to see (and get me into restaurants as well).

For the person who suggested I have my cards mailed to the Netherlands, I'm sad to say that the Dutch postal service is notorious for losing things, so I'm not going to go that way.

Thanks again.

Posted by
4137 posts

I'm curious , what is the programming for the concert you will attend ?

Posted by
10118 posts

Maison de la Radio! Those are always very difficult tickets to get. Congratulations.

Posted by
4324 posts

I believe the recommendation was for FedEx or DHL, not regular mail.

Posted by
31 posts

phred - the suggestion was for "express mail." Which can mean any number of things. And I'm grateful for that suggestion.

Why you're chiming in I'm less sure about, but I'll assume you're a generally helpful person and were just trying to help me get things figured out. So thanks for that.

But, as long as you're mentioning them, I will say that I've had uniformly bad experience with both FedEx and DHL when sending things internationally. So I'd caution against anyone using either carrier for anything - like an original vaccination card - that would be difficult to replace.

Posted by
2743 posts

An original vaccination card is hard to replace? Really? I just went back up to the pharmacy where I got mine and they gave a duplicate to me.

In most states your primary care physician could actually just look on the state vaccination registry and see what you’ve gotten and do one for you. I also do have a copy of my state vaccination registry for future use

Posted by
2537 posts

The pass sanitare becomes obsolete on 15 January. At that time, everyone should be fully vaccinated, to include the booster, to obtain the new pass vaccinal, required for access to cafés, restaurants, museums, concerts.

A French pharmacist may, for a fee of 36€, issue you a QR code representing vaccination status, based upon an original CDC card. None of these other forms, issued by a state government or health organization, while completely valid in the US, none is a CDC card. Is it reasonable to assume that a French pharmacist knows what an excelsior pass is and can accurately determine its validity, or any other of the state issued formats? A pharmacist is looking for an original CDC card, with the booster clearly indicated. At this point, pharmacists know what these are and if you present one, you will have a QR code giving you a valid pass vaccinal.

Vaccination fraud is a hot topic in France right now, and fines for misrepresenting oneself or using a forged vaccination document have risen from 135€ to 1000€. An honest pharmacist will want reasonable assurance that what you present is a valid representation of your vaccination status.

However, if the OP has a valid EU vaccination pass issued in Amsterdam, it should allow him the same access in France as the pass vaccinal.