Summer holiday hopes raised as UK examines EU vaccine passports plans
The UK will examine European Union proposals for a vaccine passport in the hope of reviving international travel for the summer holidays.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Britain was working with the EU and countries around the world on the issue.
But England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-tam said there was still "great uncertainty" around holidays on the continent - partly because the European Union's vaccination programmes were behind the UK'S.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said plans for a "digital green pass" will be set out this month, which would allow people to prove they have been vaccinated or show the results of coronavirus tests.
Ms von der Leyen said the digital green pass "should facilitate Europeans' lives".
She said: "The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the European Union or abroad - for work or tourism."
Mr Hancock told a Downing Street press conference the UK was "working with international partners" on the issue.
"The EU is part of those discussions, as are several other countries around the world, and it's obviously important work," he said.
"What I'd also say is that in a sense this already exists because you need to have a test before you can travel to the UK and, as far as I understand it from the details set out today, the EU proposal is that certification includes both whether you' ve had the vaccine and also whether you've recently had a test for those who can' t get vaccinatedyet, which is obviously particularly important.”