BRUSSELS, Feb 25, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – EU leaders meet Thursday under pressure
to speed up Europe’s coronavirus vaccine rollout, and divided over border
closures and what introducing vaccine travel certificates could mean.
The video summit for the leaders of the 27-nation bloc comes a year into
the Covid-19 crisis, as most of the EU is experiencing a second wave of cases
— or a third wave for some — that stubbornly won’t diminish.
And the member states now face outbreaks of more contagious variants from
Britain and South Africa.
Brussels has warned six governments, including Germany’s, about unilateral
border restrictions, while tourist-dependent countries are piling on the
pressure to lift travel barriers in time for summer vacations.
After a sluggish start to the EU vaccination rollout — largely because
the EU’s plan was dependent on the vaccine from drugs giant AstraZeneca,
which under-delivered — European capitals hope supplies will surge from
April as Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna ramp up production.
A one-shot vaccine by Johnson & Johnson could also be approved by mid-
March.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told the German regional
daily Augsburger Allgemeine that, despite the friction with AstraZeneca,
“vaccine manufacturers are our partners in this pandemic”.
Her goal is to have 70 percent of adults in the European Union vaccinated
by mid-September.
– Greece going it alone –
Just four percent of the bloc’s 450 million people have received at least
one jab, according to an AFP tally of official figures — and only two
percent have been fully vaccinated with two jabs.
But thoughts are already turning to vaccine certificates.
Several EU officials and diplomats warned on Wednesday that, while they
back a verifiable vaccination record, it is too early to look at using
“vaccine passports” to permit easier travel.
“We still do not have advice from the health authorities (about) what the
vaccine does and does not do: Can you still contaminate others if you have
been vaccinated? I don’t know,” one senior EU diplomat told journalists.
“What happens to those who have not been vaccinated? What procedure do
they have to go through to be able to enter a country? I think this is still
under discussion,” he said.
France and Germany, notably, are opposed, fearing a travel schism between
a minority of vaccinated haves and a majority of unvaccinated have-nots.
However, preliminary EU talks have already started with the International
Air Travel Association, which is about to launch its IATA Travel Pass, an app
that stores vaccine data.
Meanwhile Greece has indicated it is ready to move faster than its EU
peers, and has already struck a bilateral travel agreement with Israel, the
world’s vaccination champion.
It is reportedly in similar talks with former EU country Britain, where
bookings of low-cost flights to Greece, Spain and Turkey soared on Tuesday
after London said curbs on foreign leisure travel could be lifted as early as
mid-May.
The senior EU diplomat acknowledged that all European Union countries were
“eager” to find a safe way to reopen travel in time for the June-to-September
tourist season, but said “we have to move this forward together”.
An EU official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, was blunter,
saying the EU wants to avoid “a new death season”.
– Worry over variants –
Brussels is also concerned the emergence of worrying variants could
require retooled booster shots, which would in turn mean vaccine certificates
would have to be constantly updated.
A more pressing problem than the certificates, though, are the severe
border restrictions put in place by several EU countries to curb the virus
variants, which the commission sees as disproportionate.
It has written warning letters to Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany,
Hungary and Sweden about their measures, giving them until late next week to
respond.
Another EU diplomat said: “In this instance we needed to underscore the
rules we have collectively signed on to.”
The EU official said that, without the commission’s intervention, such
restrictions “could be worse than what we see today”.
He added that he expected “quite a lively discussion between the member
states” on that issue.