The French parliament has approved legislation to make COVID passes as an important part of daily life and vaccinations mandatory for health workers amid an increase in infections across the country.
Monday’s move means people visiting restaurants and other public places, or those undertaking domestic travel by train and plane, must provide evidence of vaccination, a negative test or recent coronavirus recovery.
It initially applies to all adults, but applies to everyone 12 and older from 30 September.
Paper or digital documents will be accepted and according to the new legislation, a government decision will set out how to handle vaccination documents from other countries.
All workers in the health sector will also be expected to start vaccinating by 15 September, or the chance of suspension.
On Saturday, more than 160,000 people took part in protests held in various cities across the country on Saturday against government plans.
Critics say the new legislation infringes on the freedoms of those who do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
But the government, President Emmanuel Macron, has argued that the rules are necessary to protect vulnerable populations and hospitals as France hits a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, as well as to avoid new closures.
Last week, Macron ordered the health pass needed to visit theaters, nightclubs, museums and other cultural venues.
The move came as his government sought to tackle a growing COVID caseload, fueled by the proliferation of the highly contagious Delta variant, first spotted in India.
The rules were implemented through a decree, but legislators had to vote on extending it to cover other institutions.
They worked through the night and weekend to reach a compromise version approved by the Senate on Sunday night and by the National Assembly after midnight.
The rules can now be applied until November 15, depending on the virus situation.
Macron separately announced on Monday that the number of people in France who received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine exceeded the 40 million mark.
After four million people have been vaccinated in the past two weeks, about 60 percent of the population is now partially or fully vaccinated, Macron tweeted during an official visit to French Polynesia.