‘Vaccine passport’ opposition “It seems to be available before this summer”

Input 2021.02.26 07:51

Merkel completes EU summit video conference “use before summer”
“All of the normal people agree on the necessity… it takes 3 months to prepare”
Bloomberg “Greater Closer to EU Leadership Agreement”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on the 25th (local time) that he believes that a’digital vaccine passport’ that can prove that travelers in the European Union have been vaccinated against Corona 19 will be available before this summer, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Merkel said that after a videoconference with EU member states, he held a press conference in Berlin and said, “All of the leaders agreed that we need a digital vaccination certificate.”

Prime Minister Merkel predicts that it will take about three months for the Commission, an EU executive, to lay the technical foundation for issuing certificates. “The EU Commission has completed some technical preliminary work, but it will take extra time to develop a real digital certificate,” he said. “It can lay the groundwork for third-country citizens to travel to the EU.”

The EU’s prospect of introducing a’vaccine passport’ came out amid some skepticism of major countries. Earlier, Germany, France, and Belgium have made negative stances on the fact that the introduction of a passport proving the vaccine against Corona 19 could force vaccination and lead to discrimination between the inoculated and non-vaccinated. The vaccination rates in these countries were only single digits, so there were many questions about the effectiveness.

However, through this meeting, the Bloomberg news agency reported that it was closer to a vaccine passport agreement, including alleviating skepticism from Prime Minister Merkel. On the other hand, countries with a large portion of the tourism industry, such as Greece, Spain, and Portugal, strongly support the introduction. Some member countries, including Sweden, have publicly announced their intention to introduce it.

Meanwhile, EU member states are considering a plan to ease restrictions so that they can travel within the EU or enter public places such as restaurants and performance halls by issuing a kind of certificate to people who have been vaccinated against Corona 19.

According to the EU Commission, 51.5 million doses of vaccine were delivered to the EU as of that day, of which 29.1 million doses were vaccinated. About 5% of EU citizens have completed the primary vaccination.