"Suspended" since March 14, will the vaccine pass return to France in the coming weeks?
This is what the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, suggested on Monday in an extract that has gone viral on social networks.
However, this is not at all relevant.
We take stock.
What you may have read or heard
Christian Estrosi headed a metropolitan council for the Nice Côte d'Azur metropolis on Monday, during which he detailed several measures to deal with the resumption of the epidemic.
On this occasion, he also indicated that he had "information according to which the vaccination pass could be reactivated from August 1st".
Immediately, the extract was shared on social networks by some Internet users.
After verification, @cestrosi has just announced that he has privileged information according to which the #PassVaccinal will be reinstated as of August 1, with the possibility of a recall for the entire population.
Mind-boggling.
Source: https://t.co/kC89DoDWvv pic.twitter.com/X9OyU6FqD0
– Maximilien Delvallée (@MaxDelvallee) June 27, 2022
The former number 2 of the National Rally Florian Philippot, known for his opposition to the government's vaccine strategy, - unsurprisingly - also commented on this speech.
"Following Estrosi's revelations about the return of the vaccine pass on August 1, the entire opposition, now in the majority, has the sacred duty to form a united front against this!
Imperative duty!
“, he urged, in a message immediately “liked” thousands of times.
What it really is
Since March 14, the vaccination pass is no longer imposed anywhere.
A health pass, that is to say proof of having been vaccinated, of having a recent negative test, or of having recovered from Covid, remains imposed at the entrance to hospitals, retirement homes and establishments for the disabled.
This measure is made possible by the current legal framework for exiting the state of health emergency, which runs until July 31.
From August 1, therefore, the government will have to have a new text adopted by Parliament if it wants to be able to retain certain measures.
The draft bill presented to the Council of State, revealed by Atlantico and whose authenticity has been confirmed by the Ministry of Health, only provides for three articles.
The health bill does not provide for the extension of the health pass.
Article 1 refers to the only Sidep system for collecting data to monitor the epidemic.
Let's debate and adopt the right measures without twisting reality 1/2 pic.twitter.com/kJN5CISg2L
— Bernard Jomier (@BernardJomier) June 24, 2022
The first extends until March 31, 2023 the use of the SI-DEP and Contact Covid tools, making it possible to record positive cases and to “trace” contact cases.
The second article gives the government the possibility of imposing a health pass "to or from French territory".
"This makes it possible to govern traffic between mainland France, overseas, Corsica, and foreign countries", specifies the lawyer Serge Slama.
The third and last article creates a "committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks".
At no time is there any question of a vaccination pass which could become effective again on French soil for certain activities.
What Estrosi's entourage responds
Guest of RTL this Monday evening, the Minister of Health Brigitte Bourguignon “invited” everyone to “not spread false information”.
Joined by Le Parisien, Christian Estrosi's entourage specifies that he "wanted to talk about the border pass for those who travel, and not the health or vaccination pass at the restaurant".
“No controversy.
(…) The comments made were taken out of context”, we continue.
A precision all the more necessary as it is not what transpires from the video extract.
That said, we remember that the government has sometimes done what it had ruled out a few weeks earlier (sanitary pass in places of daily life, pass conditioned on the booster dose, etc.).
But the political context has changed, and the executive would in any case find it difficult to get Parliament to adopt a return to the vaccine pass.
“There is no provision in the text to reinstate the vaccination pass, and I do not think that the government will make last-minute additions during the session, especially since it would not pass neither in the Senate nor in the National Assembly. “, judge with the Parisian senator and doctor Bernard Jomier.
