The Covid vaccine pass needed to access certain venues will be suspended as of Monday 14 March, according to an announcement made by the French Prime Minister on Thursday. Covid masks will only need to be worn in public transport and medical centres from that date.
"The situation is getting better thanks to our collective efforts," Prime minister Jean Castex told TF1 television on Thursday.
The vaccine pass -- proving that someone has been triple vaccinated against Covid-19 -- which came into effect on the 24 January will no longer be required from the 14 March, provided health indicators remain stable.
The suspension means people will be able to access long distance trains, restaurants, cafés, museums and cinemas without needing to show their pass, or wear a mask.
School and university students will also be free from wearing their masks for the first time in two years.
Masks will no longer be mandatory in work places, administrations and shops, except for health workers who also must prove they have been vaccinated to keep working.
Masks will however remain mandatory in public transport and while visiting medical centres.
A "health pass" will continue to be required to enter medical centres and nursing homes, Castex said.
The health pass means that a recent negative Covid test is sufficient. Details have yet to emerge on the type of test required or the period of validity.
Too soon?
Although much of the population is breathing a sigh of relief to take off their masks, and drop the pass, some people are concerned that it might be too soon.
"It's not the right time to end these measures," says Michaël Rochoy, GP in Outreau and co-founder of the Stop-Spittle group. He told France Info that Castex's announcement amounted to "electoral populism to make people happy."
Others, like Benjamin Rossi, an infectious disease specialist at a Paris hospital, feel it is "time to lift restrictions".
"I think we're now in an endemic phase of the virus. We've drastically reduced the number of serious cases and deaths. The virus is here to stay," he said.
The health pass came into effect in June 2021, provoking anger among some sections of the population who felt their personal freedoms were under attack.
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This anger strengthened in January this year when the vaccine pass came into effect, upping the pressure on those who had not been inoculated. Protests and car convoys were organised across France and elsewhere in the world.
On 22 February, health minister Olivier Véran said the vaccine pass could be suspended if the infection rate dropped below 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and less than 1,500 Covid patients in intensive care.
However, public health agencies reported that there were 2,329 intensive care patients on Wednesday, and the infection rate was hovering around 585 on the 27 February.
France has recorded 138,762 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Improvement in overseas territories
In French Polynesia, president Edouard Fritch on Wednesday announced an end to mandatory vaccinations, saying that 80 percent of the population over 12 had been given the jab.
Since 23 December, all workers in contact with the public were required to be vaccinated or risk paying a fine.
Elsewhere, in the French territories of Guyana and Mayotte, the health state of emergency and related curfews have been lifted.
In place since the 5 January, the emergency measure was due to stay in place until 31 March 2022.
In French Guyana, the infection rate dropped from 170 per 100,000 inhabitants on 15 February to 57 per 100,000 inhabitants on 1 March.
In Mayotte, the infection rate dropped to 10 cases per 100,000 inhabitants on 27 February.
In the Caribbean, the island of Martinique has been under a health state of emergency since 8 December, the 27 December on Reunion Island and since 2 February in New Caledonia.
