Up to 800,000 French health passes could be deactivated on Saturday

Up to 800,000 health passes could be deactivated on Saturday (January 15) as rules surrounding booster doses for adults change.

From this date, any adult who had their second vaccine more than seven months before must have also received their booster to ensure their health pass remains valid.

Adults are eligible to receive their booster from three months after their second vaccine dose, and have four additional months in which to go for this third dose.

However, on February 15, the deadline for receiving a booster will shorten to four months after the second dose (allowing a month’s flexibility to get the extra vaccine).

Those who were initially given the single-dose Janssen jab become eligible for their booster one month after their first vaccination and are then given an additional month in which to receive the booster before their health pass is deactivated.

The estimated 800,000 people who were yet to receive their booster dose by last Sunday (January 9) was announced by the Health Ministry, although it also stressed that this figure was “probably overestimated.”

This is because some people will have a certificate of recovery from Covid from the last few months which can be used to create a valid health pass.

“And also we have the whole of the coming week for these people to get their booster doses in time,” the ministry added.

January 15 is also the date the government had first planned to make its vaccine pass bill law.

This bill has been passed by the Assemblée nationale and the Sénat is due to further debate it today. It would mean that people over 12 would have to be fully vaccinated in order to enter any of the spaces where health passes are currently imposed, and could not use a Covid test from the last 24 hours as a temporary way to have a pass.

The government says the law could be in place by next week.

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