Vaccine passports would allow borders to reopen safely – Blair
THE G7 Summit in Cornwall this summer presents an opportunity for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to push for a global coronavirus vaccine passport scheme, former prime minister Tony Blair said yesterday.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said on December 1 that there were no plans for a passport for those who have been vaccinated, though the Sunday Telegraph has reported that the Government is funding at least eight separate firms to develop such a product, which is already in use in countries in the Middle East and Asia.
Mr Blair said the UK needed to take advantage of its presidency of the G7, which aims to meet at the Cornish resort of Carbis Bay, near St Ives, in June, to lead the drive for a global vaccination passport to allow borders to reopen safely and travel to resume.
He told the Daily Telegraph there were two significant risks if Mr Johnson did not convince his fellow leaders to back such a scheme.
“One is that everyone just does their own thing, which is much more chaotic and difficult to manage. Or, secondly, there’s a set of rules
in place that you may not be that happy with.”
Zurab Pololikashvili, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s secretary-general, last week told the Global Tourism Crisis Committee in Madrid: “Vaccines must be part of a wider, coordinated approach that includes certificates and passes for safe cross-border travel”.
The leaders of Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta have called for the introduction of certificates which designate if a traveller has been vaccinated or not. On Monday, Australia’s education minister, Alan Tudge, said planned “digital vaccine certificates” would allow international students to return to study in the country without the need for them to hotel-quarantine.
Mr Blair spoke ahead of a report by the Tony Blair Institute which argues the more restrictive travel rules introduced by the Government this week could eventually be more easily repealed if a universal vaccine scheme were in place.
“It’s better to have common rules and a common verification system, so that people know what your disease status is and know it with some validation,” he said.
He said the PM could make use of the summit’s timing in June, before significant enough vaccination numbers prompt the resumption of international travel, to push the G7 to lead discussion on a global programme.
Derek Jones, chief executive of luxury travel firm Kuoni, said many people are “very optimistic” about being able to travel from the second half of 2021.