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European Union plots bloc-wide vaccine passport

An EU-wide vaccine passport which could replace the piecemeal approach currently being pursued by individual member states, will be put forward this Wednesday (17 March).

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission has previously said it would be possible to develop an Israeli-style ‘green pass’ within about three months using data from EU citizens who have been vaccinated, tested negative or are immune to Covid-19.

So-called vaccine passports are already being developed, or are under consideration, in a number of European Union countries, including Sweden, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic and Cyprus.

Ylva Johansson (pictured), the EU’s commissioner for internal affairs, confirmed to Euronews on Friday (12 March) that Europeans who have been inoculated with one of four approved coronavirus vaccines would be eligible for the passports, in a scheme that could pave the way to the resumption of cross-border touring.

Europeans who have been inoculated with one of four approved coronavirus vaccines would be eligible for the passports

The four vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson jabs; other vaccines, such as Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinopharm, would be excluded pending EMA authorisation.

Speaking to privacy concerns over the planned ‘passport’, an EU source tells Euronews use of the green pass – available digitally or as a printed certificate – would be limited to the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Israel, green passes, issued to citizens after their second and final Covid-19 jab, are enabling the return of concerts, with up to 1,500 people now allowed at outdoor shows.

 


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