EU vaccine passports for travel are months away, memo shows

The EU is still months away from issuing Covid-19 immunity certificates, raising the risk of another lost tourism season for the bloc’s aviation and hospitality industries. Technical work on a digital platform to authenticate travelers’ health status could take three to four months, according to a briefing note circulated to national delegations in Brussels on Tuesday. Beyond that, there are legal hurdles, the challenge of agreeing the scope of the program, and resolving thorny medical questions. The system being developed by the EC would confirm holders have recently tested negative, been fully vaccinated, or recovered from the coronavirus and are thus presumed to be immune. But EU member states are at loggerheads over the use of the “status certificates,” with tourism-dependent economies like Greece pushing for rapid introduction to allow for the return of travel and other activities like dining out, at least for a segment of the population. France and Belgium have resisted, citing concerns including privacy and fairness.<br/>