Sanitary pass: what the new government bill says

Covid-19 is back in force. In recent weeks, the contamination figures have been constantly rising, causing a wave of concern in France, while the summer holidays are just beginning.

It is in this context that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented a health emergency bill to her new government, this Monday, May 4, during the Council of Ministers. The purpose of this is to open up the possibility of a health pass at the borders from July 31.

According to Olivier Véran, now government spokesperson, this device “will make it possible to extend some absolutely essential provisions to deal with the continuation of the Covid-19 epidemic in our country”, reports BFMTV. This bill will now be examined, next Monday, in the National Assembly.

The former Minister of Solidarity and Health asserts, on the other hand, that “all the other measures to fight against the epidemic […] are no longer part of this bill”. Thus, the possibility of restoring the state of health emergency after July 31 is not provided for by the text. There is also no question of a return of the vaccination or health pass inside the territory to restrict access to specific places.

However, the text provides that the SI-DEP and SI-VAC computer files, respectively containing the results of the screening tests and the data related to the vaccines, will be kept until March 31. According to Olivier Véran, “we cannot afford to stop monitoring the circulation of the virus”.