More than 1 million people from nine European Union (EU) countries already have their health passports. And “many more will follow in the coming weeks and months,” EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders promised on the heels of the European Parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg, France.
It is a certificate that states that the person is vaccinated or is negative for COVID-19, a measure established to prevent counting, facilitate travel and promote tourism within the block this summer.
Coronavirus: more than 1 million people in the European Union already have health passports | Illustrative image
So far these certificates are issued in nine countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Poland, Lithuania and Spain. And in addition, as Telam stated, they will have to be recognized by all the countries of the bloc from July 1, under a regulation that will be endorsed by the European Parliament in a vote whose results will be announced tomorrow.What is the health passport?
In the context of the pandemic, they prevent those who hold the certificate from having to quarantine. “This will make life easier for European citizens. The Covid Digital Certificate will help them travel in the EU, whether for professional, family or leisure reasons,” Reynders said, according to the AFP news agency. However, Member States retain the possibility of imposing additional restrictive measures in the event of a variant of the coronavirus being detected. Last Tuesday, the EU tested an electronic system for verifying Covid certificates, allowing Member States to connect to a common European programme and start issuing those digital documents. As explained by the European Commission, it is not intended to restrict movement within the EU, but to facilitate it.
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