Covid passports could deliver a 'summer of joy,' Denmark hopes

Like many countries around the world, Denmark is desperate to reopen the parts of its economy frozen by the pandemic. The kingdom of under six million people has become one of the most efficient vaccination distributors in Europe and aims to have offered its whole population a jab by June. But before that target is reached, there's pressure for life to get back to normal for Danes already inoculated and to open up borders for Covid-immune travelers from overseas. Morten Bødskov, Denmark's acting finance minister, last week raised the prospect of a so-called coronavirus passport being introduced by the end of the month. "Denmark is still hard hit by the corona pandemic," he said. "But there are parts of Danish society that need to move forward, and a business community that needs to be able to travel." The government has since indicated that a February deadline might be ambitious, but the relatively small Scandinavian country could still become the world's first to formally embrace the technology to open its borders in this controversial way. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod says the move is vital to keep Denmark ahead of the game -- even if the country is under a lockdown until February 28. "We have more than 800,000 jobs in Denmark that are linked to trading with the world so this is fundamental" he says. As one of the world's most digitized countries, Denmark is ideally placed to become a testing ground for this new technology, drawing on public and private collaboration, says Kofod. "This is fundamental because if we want to start to export again and trading again, see business people meet again, things like the corona passport are fundamental to making that happen," he says.<br/>