EU vaccine passports may trigger new wave

▶ China takes lead in forming national health certificate: top epidemiologist

Chinese health experts believe the EU’s plan of digital vaccine travel certificates or “vaccine passports” was more political for economic recovery but not feasible scientifically at a time when emerging new variants of coronavirus raise doubts on the efficacy of vaccines, warning that the reckless move may trigger a new wave of pandemic in Europe.

EU leaders are discussing the vaccine passports issue via a meeting on Thursday and Friday to decide whether EUwide travel would be allowed this summer, and have not come up with a unified plan.

Tourism-dependent southern European nations such as Greece and Spain have been calling for an EU vaccination certificate for travelers. However, countries like France and Germany believe it would create a “de facto vaccination obligation” and result in discrimination, DW reported.

When 26 out of the 27 EU countries have found variants of coronavirus and German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of a more aggressive third wave of coronavirus possibly triggered by new mutations, introducing the vaccine passports to stimulate economic recovery is way too early and risky, Chinese health experts said.

A Beijing-based immunologist who requested anonymity said that vaccine passports could provide convenience for travel, but so far it’s a purely political consideration, either for the purpose of promoting a vaccination campaign or economic recovery.

“International scientists have not figured out the real efficacy of vaccines amid virus variants, and it takes five to 10 years to find out the real efficacy, and how long vaccine protection can last also remains unknown,” he said.

Adopting vaccine passports to allow travel may further worsen the pandemic in Europe this summer, especially with the influence of the new virus mutations frequently reported and possible recombinant strains of the novel coronavirus with other coronavirus, he said.

Italy reopened to travelers from Europe in June 2020, and more EU countries followed. By August, EU countries and the UK had seen a spike in cases, and the total number surpassed the US in early October in terms of new cases per million for the first time since spring, which experts believe was caused by Europe’s failure to balance the need to restart the economy and protect public health.

The vaccine passports plan was a future direction, and should be established and adopted under the WHO’s advice and take consideration of the international community, experts said.

Zeng Guang, the chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the digital vaccine certificate is worth promoting globally in the future to promote people-to-people exchanges and stimulate economic recovery.

China is taking the lead in forming a national digital vaccine certificate, as detailed information such as vaccine brand and receiving time is now available in the Chinese health code system, Zeng said.

He said the globally recognized vaccine certificates should take consideration of the virus mutations to assess vaccines efficacy and adjust the vaccines included in certificates according to the assessment. The global vaccine certificates could also be introduced during major international events, such as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, he said.