France, Italy impose strict mandate on Covid-19 vaccine



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PARIS — Julien Zerbos on Monday turned down potential customers at the Champs-Élysées brasserie in Paris where he works because they did not have the European Union’s new digital health certificate.

France began demanding the passes, which certify someone has been vaccinated against Covid-19, on Monday for people seeking to dine at a restaurant, whether indoors or outdoors. The pass is now also required to take domestic flights and long-distance buses and trains. France already made the pass compulsory last month for a host of other activities such as admission to museums, swimming pools, gymnasiums and major sporting events.

“Some customers say they received the vaccine but did not come with the health pass, and we have to apologize, we cannot accept you,” said Zerbos, who works as a host at Fouquet’s in Paris. “We can be in serious trouble if we accept someone without the health pass.”

Italy also made the digital health pass mandatory for a range of activities last Friday, although the unvaccinated can still dine in restaurants if they sit outside. The certificates, known as the Green Pass in Italy and the Health Card in France, display a personal QR code that indicates whether a person is vaccinated, has recovered from Covid-19, or has recently tested negative for the virus.

France and Italy are at the forefront of a European trend towards rules which effectively separate populations into vaccinated and unvaccinated, and which facilitate the resumption of normal daily life for the former. Governments hope the new rules will push more people to get vaccinated and curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, preventing a return to lockdowns later this year.

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