The country’s new rule requiring those 16 and older to present a vaccine pass to enter most public establishments has come into force. (AP)
Restaurants, bars, tourist sites and sports venues are all off limits unless recently recovered from Covid.
The new rule also denies a negative test being eligible for entry.
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.
Since last summer, France has required a “health pass” to go to any cafe, museum, movie theater or take a regional train or domestic flight. But until Monday, unvaccinated people could activate the pass by getting a recent negative test. The new pass only works for people who are fully vaccinated, and those who recently recovered from the virus.
France, meanwhile, opened up access to booster shots to 12- to 17-year-olds on Monday.