France's 'vaccine pass' law comes into effect, unvaccinated no longer allowed at venues

People who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 are no longer allowed into France’s restaurants, bars, tourist sites and sports venues unless they recently recovered from the virus. The new law came into effect Monday, requiring a “vaccine pass” that is central to the government’s anti-virus strategy.

France made “health passes” mandatory last summer, but those could be activated by getting a recent negative test. While the new rules might not make a difference for most patrons, waiters may have to more frequently check people's ID cards if they suspect the customer's vaccine pass QR code doesn't actually belong to them.

"If I'm not sure about the person, I'll ask them," said Nicolas Ledur, a waiter at the Capone restaurant in southeast Paris. "You have to be rigorous."

People enjoying lunch at Capone were divided on whether café workers should be doing identity checks. Patron Tania Chauvin said that while it didn't matter for her, she could imagine the "downward spiral it could trigger," citing concerns about racial profiling and targeted checks. But Charles Tuile, who was seated outdoors, said such checks were "reassuring in many ways."

For Ledur, the real issue was a lack of customers in his restaurant, which he suggested was a result of the government's working from home policy. France is registering Europe’s highest-ever daily coronavirus infection numbers, and hospitals are continuing to fill up with virus patients, though the number of people in intensive care units has dropped in recent days. The government has imposed few other restrictions amid the surge in the omicron variant, focusing instead on the vaccine pass, approved by France's parliament and Constitutional Council last week.