It's a strange situation. You have to find a French pharmacist or doctor willing to vet your CDC card so that you can get a pass sanitaire in the Tous Anti Covid app? I presume the app is available in the US App Store or Google Play store?

Now there are articles published like this:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/article...s-for-tourists

I don't know what source they're quoting when they say "any willing French doctor or pharmacist." I would think it could disrupt their normal business if they're inundated with American tourists wanting them to issue a QR code from US CDC cards.

I guess we really won't know until a week into August.

We better hope other EU countries won't require a digital pass to get into restaurants. For one thing, pharmacies in other countries may not be tied into the covid testing system like the French pharmacies. For instance, pharmacies in Barcelona don't give antigen tests. They will sell you a home test kit but not do it themselves or issue some kind of certified test result.

It appears to be the same in Italy as well. I've emailed a couple of pharmacies in Verona, where I will be going in a couple of weeks and some of them will do antigen tests and some won't.

So I wouldn't expect to be able to get a digital pass in those countries from my CDC card.

Requirements for any attractions with more than 50 people start today, so no need to wait until August. Unless someone is only going to France to eat, most will be affected before than. Looks like some places accept CDC card and others do not.

The French App links into the EU app, if you have a vaccination result loaded in the French one you will be able to push it to any of the other countries (I have looked at others countries to see if I could get the CDC card loaded into theirs, but no dice). Hence why it might be worth the hassle to try and get it loaded if you have any future plans of EU travel. The way things are going it looks like more and more countries will switch to a similar method, not less. Remember this issue with CDC cards affects an incredibly small number of people compared to the EU population that is covered and has no issue using this method. It sucks for us, but we are in a minuscule minority.

We have now visited several pharmacies. This morning the pharmacist explained that we’d need to try a pharmacy that was providing vaccines and directed us to one. The pharmacist there said she couldn’t and I asked if it was possible? Her response: “maybe possible, but I don’t know how to it.” You will need to be fortunate to find one who either already knows or is willing to take extra effort to help out. OTOH we had no problem entering the Musée Orangerie with CDC card.

I’m not certain I’d have been able to get into the museum today with the CDC card.

App is definitely available in US App Store for iPhone.
Finding someone willing and able to do it will be a challenge for most tourists. We are fortunate in that we are fairly comfortable dealing with French bureaucracy (having lived here for many years) and having a fairly high tolerance for inconvenience.

We went to 6 phamacies yesterday to try. They all turned us away with different levels of either indifference or lack of knowledge. We do speak French, so had no trouble explaining ourselves.

The Dali museum said they would accept our Quebec QR code proof, but on arrival they did not even check. We were going to visit the Catacombs, but yesterday they updated their site to say the Passe Sanitaire was the only accepted proof. So we skipped that, at 29 Euros a person it was an easy decision.

Luckily most of our trip will not need vaccine proof.

Was there something specific you said or did that you think helped the pharmacist? Or do you think you were just lucky? I'm guessing there's a "trick" to it that most pharmacists aren't aware of, so perhaps it would be possible for us to help the pharmacist if we know what it is.

Interesting... it sounds like the Eiffel Tower and Catacombs have explicitly made differing decisions here on accepting the CDC card?

Well it is more global that that. We are from Quebec, Canada, and have a QR code and receipt for our vaccines. Those are also not acceptable, and are French. CDC is just the USA.

An article from French newspaper « Libération », but in French (sorry anglophones)

https://t.co/ieGQ7JwqZJ

That's promising! The key point here IMO is:



Roughly translated, the French Foreign Minister is stressing the "pass sanitaire" does not need to be a QR code from the TousAntiCovid app; a CDC card (or equivalent) would also be considered an acceptable pass sanitaire. Hopefully this gets communicated clearly to establishments since it seems like there is already some confusion (i.e. Eiffel Tower vs. Catacombs) on what is acceptable proof of vaccination.

Are they actually looking at the QR code (printed or on a screen) or are they actually scanning it?

I think it will take a couple of weeks for these venues, especially private establishments like restaurants, to figure out what they're suppose to do and how they will execute.

For instance, are they prepared to turn away patrons? Typically you go and sit on an open table and they bring you the menu. Now do they have someone at the door that you have to go to request a table and they will vet your pass sanitaire, either the literal pass or pseudo pass sanitaire such as US CDC cards?

QR codes are used all over the world and its a pretty simple scan and go. You just need the same software "app" on both ends to handshake. Many of the places I have been to have switched to QR codes for menus even.

Asking for ID is also pretty standard depending on the situation, this is not much different (any place with pre-paid tickets will ask for ID). I don't know why people seem to think this will somehow up-end a business. Scan and go, the app does the work. Green good, red bad. Move on to the next person.

I think it is pointless to speculate on if some restaurants want to break the law or not (I really doubt any major attractions will risk it). Will you call the place up and ask them if they are willing to break the law or just go on down the street and try place after place until you find a place that will let you in? I for one don't want to deal with such things and would be happy to follow the law as I am fully vaccinated.

so where does that leave Montrealers----all booked up and ready to go in August--with Canadian Passports--Quebec QR Codes----non-existent "Vaccine Passports"--and CDC cards issued in Florida?-----------------------up the creek?------not even getting past CDG Customs----or not getting into any restaurants who follow the rules?

Hopefully by the time you arrive here things will be massively clearer, these changes are so new that nobody has caught up with the announcements.

We have been sticking with dining on terrasses, so nobody asks us anything. But I know for many museum are a major concern. Hopefully in a week or two things will be better organised for getting our QR codes recognised, or at least our proofs of vaccination.

On a good note, the city is quiet, only time you think of covid is inside places, otherwise things are very pleasant and uncrowded.

Yes, the government keeps saying that they will have something in place by the time the pass is mandated everywhere (especially restaurants, travel, etc…)

Also, remember that a Quebec (or any other country/province/state) QR code is useless to them if they don’t have the ability to connect to your own health department backend system.

And to answer an earlier question, they will check your pass using their own reader (app) by scanning your phone or a printed copy of your France issued QR code. All it checks is that it is valid. They cannot see any personal info.