EUrologist: It will be up to the EU countries to admit those who have been vaccinated in China or Russia

Only EU states that have been vaccinated with a vaccine authorized by the European Medicines Agency should receive the same treatment. Countries are free to decide the additional conditions under which those who have received the Sinopharm or Sputnik V vaccine will be allowed entry into China, according to a draft released by the European Commission on Wednesday.

The purpose of the Common European Vaccine Passport, or Digital Green Passport, is to make it easier for EU citizens to travel within the EU and to allow Member States to ease entry restrictions before the start of the summer tourist season, such as : Admit EU citizens to its territory without a PCR test or a quarantine obligation.

However, this requires adoption of the Commission draft by EU governments and the European Parliament. It is already clear that this will not be an easy process, as European governments have very different ideas about whether such a document is necessary and, if so, under what conditions. The fact that Hungarians are also vaccinated with vaccines not approved by the European Medicines Agency, and that the current regulations do not indicate in the document of Hungarian doctors what type of vaccination they will receive, will undoubtedly make it difficult to adopt the regulations of the EU.

QR code, minimal data

Under the proposal, the EU certificate will indicate that

if someone has been vaccinated against a coronavirus, and if not, they will provide a PCR test result or an official certificate if they have already had the disease. The certificate will be available both on paper and in digital format, and in both cases it will include a QR code that will be presented at the border crossing.

The document will be free of charge and will be published in English, in addition to the official languages ​​of the Member State in question.

Member States are free to decide on the conditions under which holders of an EU certificate are admitted to their territory, but the European Commission expects that the same rules apply to all holders of such a certificate, regardless of their country of origin. source. Exceptions can only be made for those who have not received a vaccine authorized by the European Medicines Agency, that is, the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine as at present.

For example, Germany can decide not to require a PCR or quarantine test from those who have an EU green certificate, while Belgium can insist on quarantine, but must then require it from all EU citizens. It is also conceivable that Spain, for example, does not impose any conditions on the entry of those who have a certificate, except those vaccinated with a vaccine not authorized by the EU, because, let us suppose, a PCR test is required.

The document is available to EU citizens and their family members, as well as to third-country nationals with a valid residence permit in the EU.

The European Commission will establish a central system in which national authorities will have to upload citizens’ data, and the EU institution is committed to helping develop national registration systems. The EU registry will be kept in accordance with data protection regulations and will contain only the most basic information, such as the person’s name, date of birth, type of vaccine or test and the period of validity.

The Commission plans to use the EU certificate only until the World Health Organization (WHO) adopts a global system.

Opposing opinions

Among the EU prime ministers, Greek Kiriakos Micotakis was the first to push for an EU vaccination passport. Mediterranean countries interested in tourism understandably supported Micotakis’ January initiative, but other EU leaders cautioned.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, for example, warned that such a document could seriously disadvantage those who have not yet received the vaccine or are unwilling to administer it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Charles Michel, President of the European Council, spoke about itthat such a solution can only be achieved once a significant part of the European population has been vaccinated.

This is important because, although the European Commission draft makes it clear at all costs that the EU certificate will not discriminate between citizens, since it treats the tests as equivalent to vaccination, there is actually a big difference between the immunity of a free needle stick and nasty immunity, between expensive and only temporarily valid PCR tests.

At the same time, national vaccination campaigns could accelerate from April as pharmaceutical companies pledged to deliver orders of magnitude more of vaccines by the second quarter of 2021, so several EU governments may see little risk. politician in the adoption of the EU draft.

At a press conference on the draft, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission, said:

Between April and June, AstraZeneca will deliver 70 million doses, Moderna 35 million, Pfizer 200 million and Johnson & Johnson 55 million doses (the latter has the advantage of having to be administered only once), and if all goes well with AstraZeneca in March, a total of 100 million vaccines will be administered in the EU by the end of the month.

The attitude of the Hungarian government can also make it difficult to adopt a common EU solution, as it can put those who have received Russian or Chinese vaccines at a disadvantage.

According to István Ujhelyi, MEP of the European Parliament, the only reassuring solution in this situation would be for the Russian and Chinese vaccine manufacturers to undertake the research and authorization process of the European Medicines Agency. The vice-president of the EP Transport and Tourism Commission considers:

the hungarian government should immediately ask its russian and chinese partners to send their permit requests to the eu authorities.

By the way, the European Medicines Agency has already started testing the Sputnik V vaccine.