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!

That's not my understanding: familyski.co.uk/travel-rules-update/

@Watapalava

Ive checked france in detail - uk teens need to be double vax to enter or single vax with recovery cert.

Just single vax isnt enough - no option to test or anything

Everything I have read says that under 18 can enter if not vaxxed so long as the parents are vaxxed (but then need daily tests most likely for passe sanitaire).

Latest verbatim from Le Monde…

IMHO my French isn’t up to providing an absolutely definitive watertight translation so I’ll cut, paste and run ..

www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2022/01/06/passe-vaccinal-quelle-difference-avec-le-passe-sanitaire-qui-est-concerne-nos-reponses-a-vos-questions_6108455_4355770.html

From the FAQs..

“ Les enfants et adolescents seront-ils concernés par le passe vaccinal ?:

La volonté de l’Assemblée nationale d’inclure, à quelques exceptions près, les mineurs de plus de 12 ans dans les personnes concernées par le passe vaccinal n’était pas du goût des sénateurs. Dans sa version adoptée par le Sénat, le projet de loi prévoit que les adultes de plus de 18 ans seulement pourront se voir imposer la présentation d’un passe vaccinal. Dans les lieux soumis au passe vaccinal, un passe sanitaire suffirait pour les adolescents de 12 à 17 ans inclus.

Basically as regards passe sanitaire (ie daily tests) continues to be an option for 12-17, 18+ must be double or triple vaxxed.

Entry rules are as outlined above.

Thanks abricotine..that’s how I understood it (honest ), thanks for the cross check…

@Watapalava

Ive checked france in detail - uk teens need to be double vax to enter or single vax with recovery cert.

Just single vax isnt enough - no option to test or anything

It really is not that clear. Parts of official French site indicate that under 18 who aren't fully vaccinated can travel provided they are accompanied by fully vaccinated adults.

Admittedly though there is an enormous amount of confusion and ambiguity.

I will add a photo when I've worked out how to do it. It is taken from the French ministry of Interior website, below the map, under the tab 'travel from UK to France'.

Gosh, it’s all quite complicated isn’t it? I feel for those of you with single vaxxed teens.

Just a couple of questions. Am I right that for double vaxxed 12-15 year olds the U.K. proof of vaccination letter will be accepted in lieu of a passe sanitaire. There will be no need to convert this? Or to have tests once we are in France?
Also, has anyone had any success uploading the QR code from that letter into the TousAntiCovid app? I uploaded my NHS app proof of vaccination via a photo on my phone and wondered if could do that for my daughter.

I’m very envious of all my friends with primary aged kids right now!

Well I've managed to get DS12 his second vaccine 9 weeks after his first this afternoon so I feel I'm one step closer 😬

Now to work out how to sort apps and QR codes and pre departure tests....

Does it basically mean a 12 year old will have to carry his phone to show the app everywhere? Or will he just have to show a QR code as pass sanitaire? Might get a little laminated print if it if that's the case...

You can use a print out of the qr code

Well done Chalky. I’m still not sure if we can go- 5 days until we fly. I cannot believe that we can’t get clarity. Chalet company don’t know. DH even called the British Consulate in France!! He nearly fell off his chair when they answered the phone. Unfortunately they said they were not allowed to give any information or advice, and that everything we need to know is on the website.

So I have attached an image of the bit on the official site that I think looks positive for single or non- vaccinated teens. It’s the last paragraph on my image so you may need to click on it to see the bottom.

Really would appreciate any thoughts.

That does imply that unvaccinated minors (what counts as a minor?) can travel with fully vaxxed adults doesn’t it?

@chalkyc2 can I ask how you managed to get an early 2nd jab? Was it a walk in centre? Did they not have the date of his 1st jab to hand or were they prepared to do it anyway (does he have exceptional circs)? Please forgive all the questions, would love to do that for DD.

Yes it was a walk in centre that seem to be vaccinating from 8+ weeks due to local high covid rates. They put all his details in the system and could see when he had his first.

All seems a bit ad hoc out in the wild! I found out about it from a local Facebook page and thought was worth a go!

@Nomicron yes I agree it does imply that non complete vacced 'minors' can travel with vaccinated adults.

As you what minors is that's a bit of a grey area- the online French dictionary says under 18, but some people in snowheads are debating this.

Sigh.

5 days to go. I'm worried that things won't get any clearer and DH will decide we should travel and see what happens. I hate the thought of doing the wrong thing!

I’d be really grateful for any help as we are also supposed to be going at half term.

We have a 17 and 19 year old. Both have had one vaccine and both have had Covid within the last month.

The gov.uk website suggests they can go.

@freckles20 link above implies it’s a NO for the 19 yo.

And this looks like a YES for both:

uk.ambafrance.org/Health-pass-and-vaccination-in-the-UK

I’m so confused! Which is to be believed??

@SqueakingTiger hi sorry you're struggling with this as well. My link was the result of me searching high and low for whether my 14-year-old single vaccinated teenager can travel to France. He can't have a second vaccine until after we go, and he hasn't had Covid.

I think there is a separate allowance for travel iwithout two vaccines if you have had one vaccine plus Covid. I'm not quite clear of the timescale so you would need to doublecheck that. As far as I understand it if you can prove you've had one vaccine and Covid within the correct timescales you can travel.

Things to consider are the timescales involved and also whether in fact they are supposed to now have had three jabs as I think some age groups are required to have have had three jobs if it has been a certain amount of time since their second jab.

I hope this makes some sense. I guess what I'm saying is you need to look more closely at the vaccination plus positive Covid result route as opposed to the route that I'm looking at.

In Addition my son is too young to have access to the NHS app. Your children should be old enough to have this and so they should be able to more easily prove their vaccine status plus their positive result providing they registered the fact that they were positive with a PCR

@freckles20 thank you. Your situation sounds really stressful. We are in a similar position in that some sources suggest yes, whilst others suggest no. It’s a mine field.

One of my DC stopped isolating a week ago and already the nhs app shows her recovery on her travel pdf. The other DC only just tested positive but will ge theirs in time too.

My issue is ambiguity for my 19 yo:
-Gov.uk suggests yes

• passe sanitaire French website suggests yes

-French ministry of Interior suggests No

Yes they both had pcr tests.

But in case others, are interested there are private services online offering Covid recovery certs based on lateral flow tests

Just google

@SqueakingTiger

Yes they both had pcr tests.

But in case others, are interested there are private services online offering Covid recovery certs based on lateral flow tests

Just google

Don't be drawn in by those unless you are sure you have a use for them. The QR they provide is not compatible with the EU system. You are still stuck begging at a pharmacy for them to take this and 1 vaccine proof to give you a passe sanitaire. While it did work for some in December, the last I heard, a lot of pharmacies were declining to do this.

I’m wondering if evidence of having a positive LFT result will become an acceptable proof of recovery in France now that the uk has changed it’s policy of not needing a PCR test for asymptotic +ve LFT?

@abricotine sorry to post duff advice. I assumed they were legitimate. We have NHS recovery certificates, thankfully.

Didn’t say this previously but we actually have the added issue of flying to Geneva then transiting to France.

I’ve emailed the relevant authorities for both countries to find out if an adult will be treated as fully vaccinated with one vaccine dose plus recovery. It’s clear that both countries see this as fully vaccinated domestically but unclear (to me) if the same applies to foreign tourists. I’ll update if I find anything out, in case anyone is interested.

@SqueakingTiger
Please let us know the response. I have a douple vaxxed 19yr old daughter with a covid recovery (over 7 months ago now) so would like to know if not yet boosted will be in issue. Also a single vaxed 15yr old with unregistered covid recovery. Who is it that you have contacted please? I might try the same. There’s so many different variable not covered in the information.

I booked a holiday last week with Crystal holidays skiing in Les Arcs over Feb half term as it was a really good deal. Crystal have updated their travel guidance to say that 17 and under unvaccinated teens CAN enter France which is great news for us as DS1 (13) is not double vaxxed, Just need to check the health pass and that they allow testing as an alternative to double vaccination. Is everyone else getting the same guidance?

@Winterrabbit Yes, my understanding is that your 13yr old can travel into Frnace (provided the adults are fully vax'd & negative tests + all the docs / declarations etc) but he'll have to test every day in resort to update the Pass Sanitaire. As I understand it (and I think the actal detail is still to be published), the PS is needed to access the ski lifts / restaurants etc (and if you're staying in a hotel, you'll need to check with the hotel about communal areas). The -ve test lasts 24 hours, so every 24 hours, they have to go to a pharmacy in the resort, pay for a formal LFT - most are apparently back within a couple of hours and you get a code to update / extend the Pass Sanitaire. Some pharmacy will let you book a slot - the link to the Morzinemagazine upthread has a very good article.

I'm now as sure as I can be that under 18 year olds can travel to France if travelling with a fully vaccinated adult.

I've had a reply from two emails that I sent to the French embassy and Ambafrance which confirmed this.

I'll try to post some images of these replies on a couple of posts after this one.

I have also seen a tweet from an official source clarifying things, I'll attach this to a new post shortly.

Finally more and more websites and social media pages are now stating this too- but I accept that some aren't. However, I feel that the emails, tweet, Eurostar and gov.uk sites are sufficient.

Just a couple of things to note that I've become aware of (and which have been mentioned by other people on this thread):

1. Pass Sanitare / Vaccinal . ATM non fully vaccinated 12 years and 2 months to 16 year olds can still obtain a pass to access ski lifts and restaurants etc., but this needs a supervised test every 24 hours. So keep an eye on the pass Sanitare/ vaccinal rules. We think we have booked DS daily tests, we haven't had to pay for them yet as they don't ask for payment upfront. It sounds like some places don't require a booking either.

1. If you are flying into Geneva it appears that you need to adhere to both the Swiss entry rules (currently simple for under 18s), and the French rules. The explanation for this on various sites is that Geneva airport is considered to be a joint airport and so they may request proof that people travelling on to France have the relevant tests and paperwork.