Question asked by Franck on July 20, 2021.
Hello,
While France does not recognize the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines for the health pass, because they are not approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), you want to know if the vaccines, authorized in Europe, from Pfizer-BionTech, Moderna laboratories , AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, are recognized in China.
On his site, the French embassy in Beijing indicates that, for the moment, “There is no recognition of vaccination certificates” for non-Chinese vaccines. “The question is under study, in particular at the WHO and within the European Union.”
PCR test and serological test needed to go to China
After closing its borders to most foreigners on March 28, 2020, China reopened to some Europeans in August of the same year. In practice, travelers to China have been subject since the summer of 2020 to visas limited to compelling reasons, excluding simple tourism, and require obtaining a green health QR code. On his site, Chinese Embassy in Paris indicates that obtaining this QR Code, for travelers departing from France or in transit, depends on the presentation of a negative PCR test and a serological test, attesting to the presence of IgM antibodies, also negative, carried out in the forty-eight hours preceding the flight, and in French laboratories specifically designated by the Chinese Embassy. The serological test requested by China can detect IgM antibodies present at the start of a new infection, but which do not normally appear during vaccination. If these antibodies are detected, China believes the traveler has recently been infected with the virus and cannot travel.
Vaccination against Covid-19 is therefore not a prerequisite to be able to travel to China. The issue of vaccination is only addressed in the travel instructions of the Chinese Embassy to indicate that “Travelers who have received inactivated Chinese vaccines with a positive IgM test result are requested to upload [télécharger, ndlr] their vaccination certificate when they ask for the health QR code ”. For the people “Having received non-inactivated vaccines”, i.e. the four vaccines approved in Europe, China asks them to present “The health QR code with negative serological and virological results, since the three laboratories designated by the Chinese Embassy can all perform IgM antibody tests (protein-N). During screening, travelers are required to inform the laboratory of their vaccination status. Those with a positive IgM result are cases of COVID-19 infection and are not eligible for the QR code request. “
Mandatory quarantine for all
Vaccination, with a Chinese vaccine or with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency, does it nevertheless facilitate entry into China? In fact, obtaining a visa has become more flexible since March 2021, but only for people vaccinated with an inactivated Chinese vaccine.
Regarding the submission to a mandatory quarantine on arrival, the French Embassy in Beijing indicates to CheckNews what “All travelers, Chinese or foreign, are subject to quarantine when they arrive in China. This quarantine is carried out at the place of arrival of the flight in a hotel designated by the local authorities and for a period of two or three weeks depending on the province. Vaccinated travelers, regardless of the vaccine, are not exempt from this quarantine and do not benefit from a shorter quarantine period ”.
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