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Europe Split on 'Vaccine Passports'

Jamie Dettmer

   European governments are split over whether to introduce vaccine
   passports with the tourist-dependent southern member states of the bloc
   touting them as a possible way to reopen international borders and
   encourage a resumption of travel.

   Greece's Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has been at the head of a
   pack of national leaders urging the European Commission to start
   preparing a framework for vaccine certificates. Last week he urged the
   EC to shape "a common understanding on how a vaccination certificate
   should be structured so as to be accepted in all Member States."

   Proof of vaccination could help countries open up faster, say Europe's
   airlines, hoteliers and the continent's hard-struck travel agencies.

   Last week, Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary general of the United
   Nations World Tourism Organization, called for countries to adopt
   digital vaccination passports, which he said would get the world
   traveling again. "Vaccines must be part of a wider, coordinated
   approach that includes certificates and passes for safe cross-border
   travel," he told a global tourism gathering in Madrid.

   But EU privacy activists are sounding the alarm and epidemiologists
   warn travelers bearing a document verifying they have been inoculated
   may still get infected and be able to spread the virus.

   The issue of vaccination certificates was discussed last Thursday by EU
   leaders, but there was reluctance to commit to any plans. EU officials
   say there are a number of critical questions that need answering first,
   including whether vaccinated people can still spread the virus. There
   are also worries about variants diminishing the effectiveness of the
   current vaccines.

   Also, there are disagreements over what rules should apply to travelers
   who received vaccines not approved by the European Medicines Agency
   (EMA). Because of insufficient supplies of the Johnson/Pfizer and
   Moderna vaccines, which have been approved by the EMA, a frustrated
   Hungary is purchasing supplies of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. "For an
   agreement on the standards, other summits will be needed," a senior EU
   official said.

   Another official told the EU Observer newspaper: "We can agree in
   principle that we should work on common standards, and
   interoperability. We want to avoid things being blocked because
   vaccines are not recognized in one particular country."

   Maros Sefcovic, a European Commission vice president, has said
   vaccination could become a condition for travel, like current
   requirements in many countries for a negative test. "There will be
   different options how we handle travel," he said last week. He said:
   "the possibility of the electronic vaccination certificate could be
   added."

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