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France to allow fully vaccinated travellers from EU countries to enter without Covid test

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France to allow fully vaccinated travellers from EU countries to enter without Covid test
Photo: Bertrand Guay/ AFP

Fully vaccinated EU citizens will be able to enter France without the need to take a PCR test from June 9, the government has confirmed.

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Visitors from countries rated green on the country's traffic-light classification - which will include Australia, South Korea and Israel - will also be able to enter without needing a negative PCR test.

Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari announced the relaxation of health measures in an interview on the C News channel - adding that vaccinated French citizens would also be able to travel in Europe this summer.

The announcement came 24 hours after President Emmanuel Macron had suggested that the French should consider staycations rather than foreign travel this summer.

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To be counted as "fully vaccinated" travellers must have received one of the four vaccines currently licensed for use in the EU – Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson (also known as Janssen) and it must be more than two weeks since your final dose of the vaccine.

Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne clarified some of the rules.

“From June 9th, there will be colour codes to enter France," he said.

READ ALSO: ‘Red, orange, green’: France prepares Covid traffic light system for travel

"For green zone countries, Europeans apart from the UK, Australians, South Koreans and Israelis who have been vaccinated will be able to enter France without a PCR test, ” he said on BFM TV.

“The orange zone has countries where the virus is under control but where it still circulates. This is the case for the majority of countries, including the United States. 

"For these countries [vaccinated travellers will need] a PCR test less than 72 hours before travel to enter France.”

For non vaccinated travellers coming from orange zone countries like the UK and the US travellers will need an essential reason for travel and must self-isolate for seven days after arriving in France.

Red Cross (Croix Rouge) officials check whether incoming international flight passengers have paperwork certifying that they have had PCR tests for coronavirus (Covid-19) at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, north-east of Paris on February 13, 2021, to enable them to enter French Territory. (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP)

“The red zone concerns countries where variants are of concern, such as South Africa, India or Brazil. For them, quarantine is mandatory.” 

The EU-wide "Covid-19 Certificate" officially comes into force from July 1st, but the technology that makes it work is already operational, and Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia and Poland are already operating the system.

The certificate includes proof of vaccination, a negative test result or proof of natural immunity having contracted the illness within the past six months.

Individual states will also be able to establish additional health measures as long as they are necessary and proportionate.

Last week, France tightened up travel measures for visitors from the UK because of the spread of the delta variant of the virus. Those measures remain in place for now. 

France, meanwhile, remains on the UK's amber list for travel

 

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Anonymous 2021/06/15 21:15
I’m still a little unclear as to how my children will be treated for travel into France from the Netherlands. They are 15 & 12 and have not yet been vaccinated? Both me and my wife are fully vaccinated and hopefully looking for to a French holiday?? 🙏🙏 Thank you
Anonymous 2021/06/05 20:47
I am a French resident with a British passport, I will have had both COVID injections do I need to have a PCR test to re enter France when I return from a UK trip .
Anonymous 2021/06/05 11:44
Is the commonly available UK lateral flow test acceptable as an antigen test under this system? So many tests and rules (and jargon names) that it is really confusing to everyone. We are all experts now, but with no real knowledge!
Anonymous 2021/06/04 18:17
What about children aged 16, 13 and 9 year old English children, who are not vaccinated, are they treated the same as the fully vaccinated parents? Thank you Carita

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