EU mulls Covid-19 test certificates to open up travel

The European Parliament on Thursday agreed its position on how a Covid certificate should work, bringing the EU closer to launching a document to open up travel within the bloc.

Europe intends to have a certificate showing the bearer’s vaccination status, Covid test results and/or evidence of having survived the disease up and running in June, in time for the continent’s summer vacation period.

While technical work has been ongoing to ensure the certificate is recognised across all 27 EU member states, final details have to be worked out involving capitals, the European Commission and the parliament.

The first change MEPs have called for to a commission proposal is the name. Instead of a “digital green certificate” they want to call it an “EU Covid-19 certificate” -- to avoid any implication of it becoming a “vaccine passport”.

They said the document should “neither serve as travel document nor become a precondition to exercise the right to free movement” and should only be in use for 12 months.

Stressing that the certificate should not result in discrimination, parliament demanded that Covid-19 tests for travel should be free of charge. The commission has said that this issue should be left up to member states.

The parliament’s negotiation position was announced Thursday following a vote late Wednesday, with 540 MEPs in favour, 119 against, and 31 abstentions.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the result, but ignored the proposed renaming of the certificate.

“The (European Parliament) adopting its position on a Digital Green Certificate is a key step towards free and safe travel this summer,” she tweeted.

She urged a “swift conclusion” to the final negotiations on the document, adding: “We will have the EU (virtual verification) gateway up and running by June, while supporting the timely rollout of national systems.”

Initially, the plan is for EU citizens and residents in the bloc to be able to use the certificate to avoid quarantine, testing and other obstacles to intra-EU travel that have sprung up since the start of the pandemic.

82% of vaccines given in richer countries: WHO

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has pointed out that more than 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered globally, but as much as 82% of them were given in high and upper-middle-income countries.

The WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom said that just 0.3% of all vaccines administered was given to people in low-income nations.

“That’s the reality,” Tedros told an online health conference hosted by Portugal.

He said access to vaccines “is one of the defining challenges of the pandemic” and that public health is “the foundation of social, economic and political stability”.

France to reopen cafes, bars, museums from May

French cafes, cultural venues and businesses that have been closed due to the pandemic will reopen in several phases from May 19, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, as he announced a four-stage calendar for reopening the country.