Germany, Greece, and five other European Union nations have introduced a vaccination certificate system for travellers, i.e., weeks ahead of the July 1 rollout of the program across the 27-nation bloc. Reportedly, the other countries that have already started are the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark and Poland, as per the European Commission.
Greece, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, has been stressing on the use of a commonly-recognized vaccination certificate that uses a QR code with advanced security features. Reports have it that now certificates are being issued to people who have been fully vaccinated, and also to those who have contracted the virus earlier and have developed antibodies, and those who have had a PCR test within the past 72 hours.
As per the reports, the documents will feature both paper and digital forms. They will be valid in all the bloc’s countries, and will be issued free of charge, and feature the national language, along with English. Referring to this, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said, “EU citizens are looking forward to travelling again, and they want to do so safely. Having an EU certificate is a crucial step on the way.”
Further, Greece’s Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said that hassle-free will open up within the EU, as nations gear up to adopt the new verification standard. While talking to the media personnel, he said that countries will stop issuing certificates using their own convention and adopt the common convention, which will simplify things considerably in the near future, as one can imagine the number of bilateral agreements that would otherwise need to be worked out.
He further added that in the next few weeks, all EU nations will need to fully finalise their national systems to issue, store and verify certificates, so that the system is functioning in time for the holiday season.
The EU Commission is also of the opinion that people who are vaccinated, should no longer be required to test to go under quarantine, regardless of where they are travelling to or from, starting 14 days after receiving their second shot. This has not been, however, endorsed by the member countries yet.