The European Commission is set to present a proposal this month on creating an EU-wide digital vaccination passport, allowing Europeans to travel more freely over the peak summer period.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday that the European Commission is getting ready to present a proposal on creating an EU-wide digital vaccination passport.
“As for the question of what the digital green passport could look like: we will submit a legislative proposal in March,” she said in a video conference with German conservative lawmakers.
By creating these COVID-19 vaccination passports, travellers within Europe should be able to travel to other European countries with freedom and peace of mind.
Tell me more..
The ‘digital green pass’ would provide proof that a person has been vaccinated, results of tests for those not yet vaccinated, and provide information on recovery for people who have had the virus.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen shared more details on the Digital Vaccination Passport in a couple of tweets.
She tweeted that ‘the Digital Green Pass should facilitate Europeans‘ lives. The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the European Union or abroad – for work or tourism.’
While EU countries, such as Spain and Greece are pushing to unlock tourism this summer, a number of countries say they need to ensure that vaccinated people cannot transmit the virus to others.
Some countries, such as France and Belguim have expressed concern that only allowing inoculated people to travel would be unfair.
The Commission says it would seek to avoid discrimination against unvaccinated citizens.
What about in Australia?
Over on this side of the world, Air New Zealand is set to trial the digital Travel Pass app developed by International Air Transport Association (IATA) on its Auckland-Sydney route in April.
Qantas has also shared that it is looking into the use of digital health pass apps to help resume safe international travel to and from Australia.
The CommonPass and IATA Travel Pass smartphone apps are being trialled on the airline’s international repatriation flights.
It is expected that this will be a requirement once Qantas relaunches its international flight schedule, from October 2021.
Etihad and Emirates have also began implementing the use of the IATA Travel Pass app to ‘help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with government requirements for COVID-19 tests or vaccines.’
According to Etihad, the IATA Travel Pass will initially be offered to guests on selected flights from Abu Dhabi in the first quarter of 2021. If successful, the pass will be extended to other destinations on the Etihad network.
Do you think Australians will be required to show a digital health passport upon booking and boarding an international flight?
Let us know – email editor@karryon.com.au
Source: AAP
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