France set to end travel Covid test rule for fully vaccinated people

France is expected to announce the end of pre-departure travel tests for fully vaccinated people coming from anywhere in the world within the next week.

Fully vaccinated people coming from all non-EU countries apart from those on the scarlet list (which is now empty) are currently required to present the negative result of a PCR or antigen test taken in the 48 hours before their journey to France begins.

Workers in the tourism industry say it is a block on visitors and does not make sense now that France’s Covid cases are higher than many other countries.

Read more: France’s Covid travel test rules are blocking recovery, says ski firm

Unvaccinated people must also take a test in the 48 or 24 hours before, depending on their country of origin. However, for these people testing rules are expected to remain.

Rules requiring unvaccinated travellers to present an essential reason for travel are also expected to be maintained.

The change was indicated today (February 8) by the European Affairs Minister, Clément Beaune, who gave an interview on France 2 this morning.

The French government introduced pre-departure testing requirements for people coming from outside the EU in December 2021, in a bid to combat the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The testing window had been set at 24 hours for travellers from the UK on December 18, when tighter restrictions including essential reasons for travel and post-arrival quarantine were imposed.

However, this time frame was put back to 48 hours for vaccinated travellers over the weekend.

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