Vaccine equivalency pass

Firstly, as of February, to obtain the pass vaccinal, everyone 16 and over must be fully vaccinated to include the booster. There will be a 4-month grace period if one has recently received the 2nd shot (within 4 months). You and your wife will need to take your booster record, original CDC card, into a pharmacy to have new QR codes issued and pay 36€ each. There is no longer any online verification option.

The only way to obtain the QR codes for your 13-year-old is to submit the original CDC card to a pharmacist and pay the 36€.

Thanks so much for this! Do you know whether having the physical CDC vaccination card is required, or will a photo of the physical card be sufficient at the pharmacy?

Thanks,
Charlie

Pharmacists know that there are a lot of counterfeit CDC cards in circulation. Copies and photographs only add to the suspicion. I will not say that in France, there is not a single pharmacist who will accept a copy of an original CDC card, but the process will go much easier and faster if you have the original card.

Tocard, is the 36 euro a fixed fee or is it variable from place to place?

36€ is the max that they are allowed to charge -- but in practice I haven't heard of places offering different prices. I guess it's possible.

I am in Paris right now and it was very easy to pop into the pharmacy to get the pass. Quick and easy. 36€ each (which when you think about that they were providing this for free for a time, it seems slightly steep to me but c’est la vie, the cost of travel these days). They required our actual passports (rather than copies of passports) and we provided copies of the printout we received when we got our vaccines. I also handed her a copy of our CDC cards rather than the actual card. Not sure which she cared about - the printouts or the copy of the cards.

And for what it is worth, I will add that almost every restaurant asked to scan it, however we had four restaurants (a during the entire week) that did not. Grocery stores, department stores and shops did not ask for it at all. Every museum scanned it.

Thanks everyone who contributed. I just went online to buy tickets for the Eiffel Tower and came across the need to have the pass. So helpful to have up to the minute information right here!

Grocery stores, department stores and shops did not ask for it at all.

Indeed, the pass isn't required to enter any of those places.

My wife and I are traveling to Paris at the end of March with our four children (16, 14, 12, 7). My wife and I are both vaxxed and boosted. All our children are fully vaxxed (not boosted currently). My 7 year old cannot be boosted. Will my 16, 14, and 12 year olds need to be boosted in order to obtain a vaccine pass?

Thanks in advance. I'm going crosseyed trying to read all the government websites...

Question...
I was issued a pass sanitaire in early November -- prior to my booster. Will I have to pay 36 Euros to update my existing pass with the 3rd booster shot information?

Will my 16, 14, and 12 year olds need to be boosted in order to obtain a vaccine pass?

Firstly, children under 18 may enter France with their fully vaccinated parents. You can confirm this information with your air carrier.

Secondly, in reference specifically to the pass vaccinal:

• Children 16 years and older must be fully vaccinated, 3 shots the last being a mRNA vaccine.
  
• Children 12 to 14 must be fully vaccinated but may qualify for the pass sanitaire with the presentation of a negative Antigen test, valid for 24 hours.
• Children under 12, I find no specific requirement.

https://www.gouvernement.fr/les-differences-entre-le-pass-sanitaire-et-le-pass-vaccinal

Will I have to pay 36 Euros to update my existing pass with the 3rd booster shot information?

Yes

Note: The government has indicated that pass vaccinal requirements may be relaxed or eliminated in the near future.

yes you must pay 36 in order to renew your pass sanitaire and turn it into a pass vaccinal with addition of your booster UNLESS the requirement is dropped before you get there. We are of two minds. I like that those in the museum or restaurant are vaccinated, but if they drop the requirement for the pass I will save over 100 Euros in getting our passes for our April trip. I still hope they keep the pass through April so we don't get exposed by some plague rat.

You cannot do the pass vaccinal on line you have to do it at a pharmacy when you get there for everyone over age 12. 36 Euro per each.

And even if they drop the local pass requirement that doesn't mean you can get into France since anyone over 18 has to have all three shots including an MRNA booster for entry. Kids under 18 must be fully vaccinated but are not required to have a booster. I have not heard rumors of them dropping the entry requirement but certainly not likely to do so before April.

Is there a way to apply for the pass ahead of time (and if so, what's the link), or do you wait until arrival and do it once there?

"Is there a way to apply for the pass ahead of time (and if so, what's the link), or do you wait until arrival and do it once there?"

At this time you cannot apply for the pass ahead of time. You'll take your CDC card, your passport and a credit card (or money) to the nearest pharmacy to your hotel which will likely be doing the Pass Vaccinal. If not, walk a few more steps to the next pharmacy. They are all over.

Depending on when you are traveling this may or may not be needed after some time in March.

A reminder that you will need the Pass Vaccinal for trains, not sure which are exempt. There are a few pharmacies in CDG Terminals if you are catching your train from there.

as stated several times in this thread, you cannot get the pass vaccinal on line ahead of time. Even if you have the pass sanitaire, you cannot update it to a pass vaccinal on line. You have to go to a pharmacy and pay your 36 Euro when you get to France.

To respond to Tocard's post from 2/21/2022:

Secondly, in reference specifically to the pass vaccinal:

Children 16 years and older must be fully vaccinated, 3 shots the last being a mRNA vaccine.
Children 12 to 14 must be fully vaccinated but may qualify for the pass sanitaire with the presentation of a negative Antigen test, valid for 24 hours.
Children under 12, I find no specific requirement.

I can confirm that 16-17 year old's do not need a booster to obtain a pass vaccinal. You only need the booster if the person is 18 years old (+1 month) and up.

My daughter is 17 and has her pass vaccinal from back when it was a pass sanitaire back in October 2021 (we obtained via electronic means before France shut that down). Her pass is still valid today despite her not having received a booster (my and my wife's expired as we have no way to provide our booster info electronically).

Second booster seems to be required for some! It surprised me to learn that as of Feb 12, 2022, to be "fully vaccinated" for the Pass Sanitaire, boosters must be <4 months old, which means that before I travel, I must get a second booster.

alohafriday, I believe you are mistaken about that. From what I've read on this forum, if you've had your booster, you are currently good to go. The EU isn't yet recommending a second booster for the general public.

The US Embassy in France website spells it out (to qualify for a health (vaccine) pass, addresses adults and children, and where we get the pass):

https://fr.usembassy.gov/how-to-get-a-french-health-pass/

Second booster seems to be required for some! It surprised me to learn that as of Feb 12, 2022, to be "fully vaccinated" for the Pass Sanitaire, boosters must be <4 months old,

This isn't correct, I underline again.

See the reference above.

The wording on the French sites including embassy sites is very confusing. But it appears that once you have your booster regardless of timing, you are good to go. No second booster is required. The 4 mos thing was aimed at French with live passes who have no yet gotten boosters. If they don't then at 4 mos the pass inactivated until they do.

Children 12-16 do not need a test along with their vaccination to get the health pass; they need to have had the two shot sequence; they are then eligible to get the appropriate health pass.

We were concerned because both of these issues apply to us for our upcoming trip and after tons of on line 'research'. I am reasonably confident that this is the case.

From a French government website:

Since 1 February 2022, people aged 18 or over who wish to enter French territory must have received a booster dose of an mRNA vaccine no later than 9 months after the last required dose to be considered fully vaccinated.

I got vaccinated in March 2021. In August 2021, I got Covid. I did not get a booster because I had been reading that a booster couldn't be any older than 270 days (if I remember right) to get into France so I waited. I am scheduled for the Paris and Heart of France tour beginning on October 7. According to the above, I should have gotten the booster in December 2021. to be able to enter France. Am I interpreting this wrong? Can anyone clarify? Do I have to cancel my tour?

Lori -- the French have been ridiculously confusing about the way they have worded all this. BUT everything I have read including people's experiences suggests that the key here is to have had the booster. Timing is not important if you have had the booster. But yes various sites have been incredibly contradictory and confusing.

And you may have read, but the Pass Vaccinal -- the pass you need to actually do anything in France -- go to a museum, eat at a restaurant, have coffee at a cafe, ride a long distance trains -- will be dropped on March 14.