Push for EU vaccine travel permits has begun – but the devil is in the detail
DESPITE the doubts about when and how – or even if – the Covid-19 vaccine will get to you, the debate has already opened on how vaccination can boost people’s freedom to travel sooner rather than later.
At EU level, the charge is being led by Greece, which is not surprising given that tourism is worth up to €40bn per year to that country, accounts for 7pc of economic output, and is responsible for one in 10 jobs. You don’t need to be Einstein to see what the economic losses amount to there.
It seems a simple enough argument that people who are vaccinated should have more room to move than those not immunised. But then you get to look into the detail – and it begins to look like a minefield.
There are three immediate issues working against the idea. The first is the principle of being obliged to share any part of your medical history to get permission to travel.
The second is a fear the idea could add to anti-vaccination campaigners’ arguments.
The final one is the lack of medical evidence on whether or not vaccinated people can still transmit the virus.
European affairs ministers from the 27 member states held a video conference yesterday to discuss greater co-ordination for the roll-out of vaccines. That same topic will again be pursued EU leaders, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, when they have a summit via videoconferencing on Thursday. But the vaccination passport idea was announced by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last week to the European Commission.
He argued that an EU-wide vaccination certificate can help restore cross-border travel crippled by the pandemic. The idea is also out there more generally even at domestic levels. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he favoured vaccinated people being allowed back sooner to restaurants and cinemas, but other government colleagues were sceptical of that view.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, of Slovakia, addressed the first two issues yesterday. He said it was important to stress that vaccination is voluntary and acknowledged that some people were unable or unwilling to receive a vaccine.
Numbers of Covid-19 anti-vaccination people are surprisingly high. It is prevalent in the former East Bloc states where trust in officialdom is limited, given the historic experience of totalitarian government, and struggling new democratic regimes still tainted with allegations of corruption. Even in more established polities like France, the levels of vaccine scepticism are alarmingly high. Surveys last month suggested that as few as 40pc of the population are happy with the prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Mr Sefcovic, who was also the man who negotiated the end to UK objections to the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol, said people fretful about the vaccine should not have their rights limited.
However, he also suggested that vaccination could become a condition for travel, like current requirements in many countries, including Ireland, for a negative Covid test.
“There will be different options how we handle travel. The possibility of the electronic vaccination certificate could be added,” he said.
Michael Roth, representing Germany yesterday, said it was vital to establish if vaccinated people could still transmit the coronavirus to others.
The EU Commission is working to ensure that vaccination data can be collected electronically in a common form.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control will this week start collecting data on member state vaccine figures. Mr Sefcovic said EU countries needed to keep open the single market, allowing workers’ freedom of movement.
But for the coming weeks, the focus will be on securing continuity of vaccine supplies.