ETOA: COVID CERTIFICATES IN EU MUST BE JUST TEMPORARY MEASURE

Wed 12 May 2021:

COVID certificates should be only a temporary measure in the European Union, as they can promote tourism in the current situation, but in principle this is an obstacle to free travel, European Tourism Association CEO Tom Jenkins said in an interview with Sputnik.

“It is going to be done. Will it really help? Anything is going to help …

I think it should not become a long-term compulsory document,” Jenkins said, also expressing the belief that certificates would be a “barrier” for free movement of tourists.

On March 17, the European Commission presented a bill on the introduction of digital coronavirus certificates in the EU, which would contain either information about vaccination against COVID-19, a negative PCR test, or immunity gained after recovering from the coronavirus.

The European Commission hopes that about 70% of the EU’s adult population will be vaccinated by the end of the summer.

The Parliament has also raised concerns about the price of the PCR coronavirus tests that could be included in the certificates, which will be available in a digital or paper format with a QR code. EU citizens will get the pass for free but the price of tests vary widely across the bloc.

EU lawmakers said member states should “ensure universal, accessible, timely and free-of-charge testing” to avoid discrimination against those who have yet to be vaccinated.

Lawmakers agreed with the European Commission that all vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, the EU’s drug regulator, should be automatically recognized.

So far, that includes vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. They also offered EU countries the possibility of including other vaccines listed by the World Health Organization for emergency use, which would include China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

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