Audrey drags her heavy suitcase out of the Gare de l'Est pharmacy.
The young woman, like all unvaccinated travelers on Monday, August 9, must do an antigen test to take her train to the Ardennes.
"There were about thirty people before me so luckily I had two hours to wait before my next train, I had time to receive my result".
If she has complied with the rule, it is not out of cheerfulness: "It is not practical when you travel a lot".
In the pharmacies around the station, it's the excitement. Many tourists come to be tested to take advantage of cultural activities during their stay in Paris, such as Nadir and Ryad, two young Lyonnais. "We are coming to be tested this morning to go to the museum and to be able to return to Lyon tomorrow". Between their trip and the visits to Paris: they did three tests in four days: one Friday, another Saturday and one last Monday. "It's a bit annoying and it wastes our time," admits Nadir, who received his first dose of the vaccine.
While Anna, a student in Lille, comes to be screened to enjoy the bars and restaurants, Sarah is pregnant and cannot go for her control exams without a health pass.
The government's new measure to stem the pandemic has allowed her to take the plunge: she has an appointment for her first dose of vaccine this week.
Behind the counter of the Pharmacie des Passages, Olivier Angibaud notes: the antigenic tests are linked with the new obligations related to the sanitary pass.
"We do between 50 and 60 tests per day, this weekend we did almost that".
But the pharmacist is confident: “It's being done very well.
It is true that it requires a little more staff during the holidays, but we are in good shape ”.