Skiing in France in Feb half term?

[winterrabbit]

We have a provisional booking in Feb half term for me, DH, and 3 kids aged 13, 11 and 3. DH and I are double vaxxed and will have had booster by the time we go. Our 13 year old is not yet vaxxed due to potential health risks so trying to work out if he will be able to get a covid pass if he tests every day in the region. Not sure if they still allow this or if they will insist on the super covid pass like Italy. Does anyone know? There's also the issue of the travel ban on UK citizens. Is this expected to be lifted? All looking a bit too difficult really!

@Wistful977 if you are in England you send away for a letter which comes within 5 days and contains a compatible QR code. www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-covid-pass-for-12-15-year-olds-for-international-travel

Thank you both, that's really reassuring and helpful!

Simon Calder in Independent ( sorry can't link as you need to log in) feels it's extremely likely that the blanket ban to France will be lifted on 15th Jan. Hope so as we need to decide if we pay the balance on our accommodation or cancel before 28th Jan.

rookiemere I really hope so. DD is booked in for her second vaccination on Sunday, so that's one less complication. Once the French lift the ban, I'll be in full on holiday planning mode. Luckily we have accommodation already, but there's lots more to think about (not least, FIL's ashes which are coming with us for a scattering)

Pass Sanitaire query here!
We have skiing booked for France in Feb half term. Our 14 year old dc had 1 vaccine and then had Covid in December, so can't get the 2nd vaccine in time for the holiday.
It seems that France are Ok with proof of 1 vaccine and proof of Covid recovery for the Pass Sanitaire.
But the NHS covid letter for 12-15 year olds is only issued for children who have had 2 vaccines, not 1 vaccine and proof of recovery.
So how do we get valid proof for the Pass Sanitaire?!
Could ask the GPI suppose, but a print out from their medical records doesn't look particularly official!

@daisybank2 great question. I can't help unfortunately, but if you find out please could you let us know.

@freckles20 yes I'll let you know if i find out any info. It's all such a pain - so much uncertainty!

Thank you @daisybank2.

I have a question that I'm really hoping someone might be able to help with please.

We have a ski trip to France booked for Saturday 22nd of January. We are flying into Geneva and then have a transfer booked into France. Our group includes my son who is 14 and has had one vaccination, he cannot have his second until towards the end of February.

I appreciate that at the moment the trip to France can't go ahead. Our chalet company will not implement their refund policy until Saturday the 22nd itself of travel is still not allowed, and I think there is a chance that the rules might be relaxed and that we can go ahead.

My question is about crossing the border from Switzerland into France and the rules that might apply. I realise that we can't be sure about any rules until announcements are made, but I'm trying to plan ahead because we may need to book testing etc..

I'm thinking that if the French rules are relaxed they will most likely include a requirement for a PCR test 24 hours before travel. But we are actually flying to Switzerland. I'm aware of the current Swiss rules and will make sure that we have the relevant testing before we fly to Switzerland. But I am unclear about crossing into France.

Does anyone know how it worked before, when English travellers were allowed into France? Could we potentially need to show a PCR test when crossing the border in order to comply with French rules? I'm thinking that maybe this PCR would be required to be less than 24 hours old? Would this be less than 24 hours from the time we are actually crossing the border? So, for example, if we were crossing the border from Switzerland to France at 3 pm on the Saturday – would we have needed to take a test in the UK after 3 pm on the Friday?

I hope this makes some kind of sense. If anyone can help I would be so grateful. Google is no help because quite rightly it only shows the current rules. I've no idea where to look for this kind of answer and I'm concerned that we may have to make arrangements at the very last minute if the French rules suddenly change.

I realise that my sons vaccination status could cause an even bigger problem. We have booked him daily PCR tests in France just in case we are able to go and just incase the previous rules apply. Our chalet company have said they will not refund us if my son can't go or can't ski as they regard his vaccination status as not their problem.

Thank you

@daisybank2 there are people on snowheads forum who have found pharmacies in France who will take the proof of one jab plus negative PCR result and on payment will convert this into a certificate you can use for passe sanitaire. Not all pharmacies will do it and you need to get the EU QR code or it won’t work. I am not an expert in all the detail but worth researching there on the teenagers skiing thread.

@freckles20 everything you want to do you can do with antigen tests/LFT not PCRs. If you are driving from Geneva to France in a private car you are unlikely to be stopped at the road border.

[quote abricotine]@daisybank2 there are people on snowheads forum who have found pharmacies in France who will take the proof of one jab plus negative PCR result and on payment will convert this into a certificate you can use for passe sanitaire. Not all pharmacies will do it and you need to get the EU QR code or it won’t work. I am not an expert in all the detail but worth researching there on the teenagers skiing thread.[/quote]
Sorry!! I mean of course the POSITIVE PCR ie proof of infection !

France looking more positive for travel....

@abricotine thank you for that. We have had cases of easyJet wrongly refusing travel to France due to them thinking that antigen (lateral flow) tests are insufficient, so we want to get PCRs instead. Plus we think that maybe any potential new French rules will ask for PCR rather than antigen.

It's good to know that we might not be checked crossing the border, but we would prefer not to take any chances. It's just proving impossible to work out what we might need to do!

Looks like rules have changed- link to bbc news below. Please can anyone help me found more details as to what this means for a single vaccinated teenager?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59977978

I would like to know this too!

I'm going on a mission to try and get my 12 yr old his second vaccine tomorrow. Apparently there's a walk in near us that might do it after 8 weeks rather than 12...

@chalkyc2 good luck. Do report back if you find anything

Will do. I'm also presuming unvaccinated under 12s are fine? 😬

That's never been an issue before- just that part vaccinated over 12s were considered unvaccinated.

@chalkyc2 Interested to know how you get on with getting a 2nd jab after 8 weeks. Don't suppose you're in the NW? We are supposed to be going at HT and have a 12yr old with only 1 jab, and from the initial reports of what the French rules are, its looking as though she'll need to be double jabbed to get in

@Africa2go Please could you link or let us know where you have seen a suggestion that the new rules will mean a single vaccinated over 12-year-old cannot travel to France? I'm trawling the Internet with no luck thank you

They can travel to France, they will just require testing every day in resort, I believe?

@m1shap3 Hi do you have a link or any idea where you might have read this please I've been trawling the Internet haven't found anything about it as yet thank you

The BBC references vaccinated travellers. Unclear what that means for U18s.

Covid-19: France to relax travel rules from the UK www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59977978

@Africa2go - SE! I'll update at the weekend. IF he manages to stay covid free DS12 can get his second jab on 02/02. But that's cutting it fine!