“Somehow, I am lucky to have had the Covid at the beginning of the year.
Otherwise, since I will not be fully vaccinated before the summer, I will not be able to take advantage of the health pass!
"Like Thomas, 24 years old and not yet officially eligible for vaccination, millions of French people are already anticipating how they will be able to take advantage of this sesame, essential from June 9 to participate in gatherings of more than 1,000 people (festivals, theaters, football matches, etc.).
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One of the criteria will be to have been previously contaminated, which would potentially affect a lot of people.
Nearly 6 million French women and men have tested positive for more than a year and more than 11 million adults have been infected in total, according to estimates by the Institut Pasteur.
At the same time, "only" 9 million inhabitants, the vast majority of whom are elderly, have been fully vaccinated, and can therefore claim the health pass as such.
This poses many questions, starting with the precise criteria for the past infection to be considered protective, and the practical process to dispose of its past.
We take stock.
Who will benefit from it?
The bill currently being debated in Parliament provides that this concerns people "recovered from contamination by Covid-19", without further details. Several government sources indicate that it will be necessary to have a positive virological test (PCR or antigen), carried out between six months and fifteen days earlier. This is also what appears in the press document sent by Matignon on Wednesday evening. “After two weeks, you are no longer a contaminant. And after six months, the Haute Autorité de santé recommends getting vaccinated anyway, ”explains Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, head of the infectious diseases department at Henri-Mondor Hospital (Créteil) and expert at HAS.
This rule corresponds to what was recommended by both the European Commission and the Scientific Council, which issued an opinion specifically on this subject on May 4.
But it immediately limits the number of inhabitants concerned.
Of the 6 million people tested positive, 4 million have been since December 9, six months before the announced launch of the health pass in France.
What if we haven't tested positive?
A serological test, which consists of looking afterwards for the presence of antibodies in the blood (without knowing when the person may have been infected), will not be valid.
The reason ?
Uncertainty that this guarantees good immunity.
"In the absence of a strong correlate of protection, it seems reasonable not to use alone the result of a serological test, even of a new generation, to testify to a protective infection which occurred more than 6 months ago", estimates the scientific council.
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This excludes all those infected during the first two waves, until the beginning of December.
“I'm not sure removing the serology is a good idea.
If the person is positive, they keep signs of a certain protection, ”deplores Jean-Daniel Lelièvre.
Residents who believe they have been infected in the past six months but have not had it confirmed by PCR or antigen testing will not be eligible for the immunity pass.
The Ministry of Health highlights the very large number of virological tests offered in recent months.
“Serological tests are not the most deployed nor what people are used to doing,” we also justify.
A medical certificate from his doctor saying that we have been ill will not work either, we say in the entourage of the Secretary of State for Digital, Cédric O. The scientific council however recommended to also take into account the “Clinical forms” of Covid during the last six months.
How will we get the pass?
Health Insurance plans to open, on May 16, direct access to the SI-DEP database, where all test results are recorded.
Each positive person will thus be able to obtain their screening certificate directly, to print or then import into their “digital portfolio” on the TousAntiCovid application.
People tested since April 19 are already supposed to receive, by SMS, a link to access their proof.
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It will then suffice to present the QR Code at the entrance of a show, for example.
The CNIL insists in this regard on "the importance of strictly limiting the disclosure of private information, relating to the health of persons, during the verification of certificates".
But be careful: once the time from the day the test was carried out exceeds six months, the system is deactivated. "The QR code will not disappear as such, but it will show that it is no longer valid when scanned," describes a government source. A thirty-something who tested positive in early January, for example, will not be able to participate in a music festival bringing together more than 1,000 spectators at the end of July. Unless he has been able to be fully vaccinated in the meantime, or specifically tests negative during the 48 hours preceding the event.
