:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/BJ33SUJIGFE37MR62FVNWRBVCQ.jpg "France will require a coronavirus health passport for all people over 12 years of age")
Adolescents and young people in France must present from this Thursday the health passport, which proves their immunization or the absence of coronavirus, to be able to access cinemas, restaurants or swimming pools, among others, a measure already applied to adults.
“I am vaccinated with two doses, I have my pass,” said Victor, a 15-year-old student from Strasbourg (northeast), who explains that the “majority” of his friends are “in favor”, but that one “had to be vaccinated without telling their parents”, opposed to it.
Since June, minors between the ages of 12 and 17 can be immunized with vials of Pfizer and Moderna, from 16 years old without needing parental permission. Since then, nearly two-thirds of teens have been fully vaccinated.
The health passport is mandatory for adults from July 21 and, although its use was scheduled until November 15, the French government announced on Wednesday its intention to extend the measure until mid-2022.
Vaccination is not open at the moment to those under 12 years of age. These, from the age of 6, are required to wear a mask at school, a measure that will be suspended on Monday in the 47 departments with a low incidence of covid infections.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 116,000 people have lost their lives in France, where at least 50.4 million people (74.9% of the population) received an injection of the anticovid vaccine. Of these, 48.5 million have the complete immunization schedule.