(CNN) – The door to summer is slowly opening in Europe, and for those who want to stroll through it to take a vacation amid Covid’s constant restrictions, the key may be at hand soon.
Although the borders are likely to remain closed in the coming weeks, the European Union is proposing the implementation of a Digital Green Certificate, or vaccine passport that will allow those with arms full of approved anti-Covid pharmaceuticals or antibodies for having infected the virus, to travel freely. Negative tests can also be used to qualify.
It is a measure eagerly awaited by the main tourist destinations in Europe, including Portugal, Spain and Greece, where the absence of visitors in the last year has left great gaps in the balances of national banks.
But is it fair?
While the beleaguered tourism industry is satisfied with the plan, which the EU is due to vote on in late March, there are fears that the irregular distribution of vaccines and supplies across Europe may mean that some countries will have more freedom than others.
Likewise, with certain demographics targeting early vaccination to the detriment of others, some may be forced to stay at home, jealously watching older citizens, many of whom will have received both jabs before the end of spring, leaving for the sun .
And while the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, regards its new Green Certificate simply as a document to allow its citizens to move smoothly across European borders, concerns have been raised that they will also be needed to enter restaurants, bars or other locations and events.
Although the new Brexited UK is not part of the program, the success of its vaccination program may result in special travel arrangements made with some EU countries that will allow Britons to bypass the need for certification.
EU citizens who have not yet qualified for vaccination – or unable to qualify – can be excluded from the return to normality that most of us want to adopt, unless they undergo frequent testing regimes.
Generational injustice
A harbinger of this can already be seen at sea. Some of the major cruise lines are announcing summer departures that will only be available to passengers who prove they have received the entire vaccine package.
Anger, some commentators say, is inevitable.
“Only those over 50 will be vaccinated this summer, so there may well be protests from younger people,” Kaye McIntosh, former editor of the consumer magazine Health Which? and WI Life, says CNN Travel. “It adds to the sense of generational injustice created by austerity, house prices and student loans. I would not blame Generation Z for being angry.”
Norbert Hidi, a 24-year-old student from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, is among those hoping to go nowhere.
“To be honest, it is not fair,” Hidi told CNN Travel. “Most of us will not have been vaccinated until the summer, which means that we cannot travel or possibly go to bars or restaurants. The older generation took the vaccines first because they are most at risk, but that shouldn’t mean they have more rights because of that. “
Brian Young, managing director of UK-based G Adventures, a travel company that offers a variety of options, including tours for people aged 18 to 30, is confident that vaccine passports will help to revive tourism around the world, even if some lose this year.
“As international travel has been almost completely suspended for a year, it is essential that governments work together to find a uniform solution to open borders and allow tourists to fly again,” Young told CNN Travel.
“The announcement of the vaccine has increased confidence in people over 50 years of age and, although the vaccine passport proposals represent a good solution as proof for those who have already received the vaccine, it leaves most of the travelers, who have not taken it or not received the vaccine, they found. “
Third wave
Denmark will become the first nation in the world to launch a “coronavirus passport” for travel abroad later this month. The idea of immunity passports has been debated among European countries since the beginning of the pandemic. But critics warn that such passports can be discriminatory and can affect people’s right to keep their medical data private. Reporting by Nina Dos Santos, from CNN.
Young says the EU’s decision to allow unvaccinated individuals to qualify for health passports with a negative antigen test will help, but it can still be a barrier for some to travel.
“Deploying cheaper test options is also essential if the cost is to stay with the consumer,” he says. “The current cost of PCR testing will discourage some travelers, especially if they are required to do multiple tests while traveling.”
If approved as planned, the EU Digital Green Certificate will be valid in all EU Member States, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. It will use a QR code with a digital signature to protect against counterfeiting. It will be issued by hospitals, test centers or health authorities, but the data must be verifiable across the EU through a digital gateway.
The EU says that certificates will be issued for approved vaccines. People vaccinated before the certificate is available, or outside the EU, must still qualify. Certificates are also expected to be valid in countries outside the EU.
In Hungary, where the vaccination rate is higher than the EU average, the authorities believe that the Commission’s time would be better spent purchasing vaccines for the entire bloc.
“We consider the certificate-related debate to be a false debate because no one expects certificates from Brussels; from Brussels, we expect vaccines,” said Gergely Gulyás, the minister who heads Hungary’s prime minister’s office, on Thursday. “It would be desirable for Brussels to shift the focus of its activities to this area.”
Transparent measures
The certification plan will need the support of all 27 member states if it is approved next week and introduced in June. Amid concerns from countries like Belgium and Germany that this could result in discrimination, EU leaders sought to build confidence.
“We are proposing a common EU approach that will lead us to our goal of reopening the EU in a safe, sustainable and predictable way,” said Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, this week.
“The situation with the virus in Europe is still very challenging and confidence in the decisions taken is crucial. It is only through a joint approach that we can safely return to full freedom of movement in the EU, based on transparent measures and full mutual trust. . “
The World Health Organization, which has also expressed serious concerns about the risk of vaccination passports creating a two-tier society, this week proposed its own “smart digital certificate”, which struggled to insist that it was not a license to travel.
“This is something other than a passport,” said WHO Director for Europe Hans Kluge on Thursday. “We do not encourage, at this stage, that vaccination determines whether you can travel internationally or not. It shouldn’t be a requirement ”.
He said that there are ethical, practical and scientific reasons for this.
“There is a global shortage of vaccines,” he said. “So it would increase inequalities and if there is one thing we have learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is that vulnerable people have been disproportionately hit.”
He said that the lack of clarity about the duration of immunity means that the vaccination certificate is not a guarantee of suitability for travel, as well as uncertainties about whether the inoculated person can transmit the virus.
These concerns have not prevented some countries from moving forward with their own certification and passport schemes.
Winners and losers
Israel’s “green pass” digital vaccination certificate is being used to allow the reopening of venues and events.
ACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, some airlines are adopting certification to ensure that passengers are free of viruses. Australian carrier Qantas has started testing the CommonPass system, which will be needed for trips abroad when the Australian border is reopened.
Other airlines are signing a digital pass created by the International Air Transport Association, IATA, which will allow passengers to carry negative Covid test certification to allow for smoother passage through airports.
Amid this confusing maze of digital paperwork, it is possible that the power of the European Union could help to impose some uniformity and clarity on how global borders can be opened in the near future.
But, as health expert McIntosh adds, there are likely to be winners and losers, and there are no guarantees, especially in the long run.
“The right not to be exposed to a deadly disease outweighs the rights of the unvaccinated,” she says. “Perhaps that will change if the vaccination eventually means that Covid-19 becomes something more common, like seasonal flu – although it still kills thousands of people every year.
“But no vaccine is 100% effective, so even the people who received the vaccine are still at risk.”
CNN’s James Frater, Sarah Dean and Sharon Braithwaite contributed to this story