Supervised self-tests valid again … in theory only

“Hello, is it possible to do a self-test with you to have the health pass?” “So in theory yes, but in reality, no, it doesn’t work.” And here, we do not supervise the self-tests ”. For this young man who tried his luck this weekend in a Parisian pharmacy, he will have to find another way to obtain his health pass.

Since a decree of October 14, self-tests carried out under the supervision of a health professional are no longer recognized as proof for the health pass. But the decree was suspended on October 29 by the Council of State, thus restoring the possibility for unvaccinated people to obtain a health pass thanks to this device. But in practice, ten days after this suspension, no directive has been sent to health professionals, for whom it remains impossible to date to issue health passes after a self-test.

“No reason for the efficiency” of the self-test

Since October 15, Covid-19 screening tests are no longer reimbursed for people who are not fully vaccinated, with some exceptions (medical prescription, contact case, recent positive test, contraindication to the vaccine). Seized against the decree putting an end to free so-called “comfort” tests, the supreme administrative court however found nothing to complain about, considering that “the development of free access” to anti-Covid vaccination ” for all people not suffering from medical contraindications to a vaccine “, as well as” the evolution of the health context “and” the financial burden “of free tests for the State” are such as to justify that this support for tests is terminated.

On the other hand, the Council of State accepted other requests, including that of the conservative political party VIA-La Voie du Peuple (former Christian Democratic Party). It therefore reconsidered the exclusion of supervised self-tests from the list of devices making it possible to obtain a health pass. The judges considered that the Minister of Health “does not invoke any reason relating to the effectiveness” of the self-test and he “confines himself to indicating that this test had been envisaged only in order to prevent difficulties of access to RT-PCR or antigenic tests when setting up the health pass, difficulties which have not taken place and which are no longer likely to occur ”, underlines in particular the Council.

“We have not received any instructions”

A court decision supposed to be applied immediately. Except that she is not. If according to The public good, “The government has reinstated self-tests in the sanitary pass”, in practice, it is something else. The page dedicated to the health pass on the government website has not been updated. It is thus specified that “since October 15, the self-tests carried out under the supervision of a health professional are no longer recognized as proof for the health pass”. The SI-DEP Portal (digital information system for Covid-19 screening), a platform on which health professionals can generate a health pass, clearly mentions the supervised self-test, and specifies that “from the 3 November, the entry in SI-DEP of the self-tests carried out under the supervision of authorized health professionals will be re-established and, if the result is negative, it will be possible to issue a health pass ”.

But “for the time being, if we are supposed to be able to reissue health passes, when I answer you, it is impossible, we are told in a Parisian pharmacy which offered the supervision of self-tests until mid- October. To date, we have not received any official document attesting that the supervised self-test is valid again, nor any instructions on how to proceed ”.

The litigation service of the Council of State referred

“The government has not communicated on the subject. We asked the ministry what were the indications and the price associated with the reinstatement of this option for the health pass, but for the moment, nothing is known, entrusts to 20 Minutes Pierre-Olivier Variot, President of the Union of Community Pharmacists Unions (USPO). All we have been told so far by the ministry is that we [pharmaciens], are not obliged to offer self-test supervision. We have a meeting with the “test unit” of the ministry on Tuesday evening, we will see if we learn more about the return of the self-tests ”.

For his part, Jean-Frédéric Poisson, president of the VIA party, does not intend to stop there. “The State not executing the ordinance of the Council of State obliging it to reintroduce the self-tests as a method giving access to the compulsory health pass, I seized on behalf of VIA the litigation service of the Council of State”, he said on Twitter.

The State not executing the ordinance of the Council of State obliging it to reintroduce the self-tests as a method giving access to the constrained sanitary pass, I seized on behalf of @via_officiel the litigation service of the Council of State.

More details in Press release ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/3VlGODtdsy

– Jean-Frédéric Poisson (@ jfpoisson78) November 5, 2021

Contacted by 20 Minutes, the Ministry of Health and the DGS did not respond to our requests.