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Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation Vincas Jurgutis, speaking on Wednesday about the so-called COVID-19 immunity passport, said that Lithuania supports the idea anyway. However, this will need to be implemented on a country-by-country basis, and the Registry Center is currently being prepared.
“According to the current version, it should be executed in June,” he said on Wednesday, but added that such a deadline could be a challenge for the community.
Photo by Vidmantas Balkūnas / 15min / Vincas Jurgutis
According to V. Jurgutis, the ministry sees the need for bilateral agreements with other countries.
“Potential tourist carriers ask Lithuania under what conditions will it be possible to come and when. So far, nothing is being done in Lithuania, but we would see a need to do so. “Now we have nothing to say to Israel,” he said.
V. Jurgutis also assured that he had not heard that an immunity passport would be prepared, which could be used within Lithuania to visit cafes, etc.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Julius Skackauskas also spoke about the need for greater cooperation with Israel in the Seimas Committee.
“As a small country on the periphery of Europe in terms of connectivity, we welcome such initiatives and we want to be one of the first to be able to provide those services and receive incoming people,” he said.
Waiting for a decision from the European Commission
Deputy Foreign Minister Arnoldas Pranckevičius emphasized that Lithuania itself must have a common consensus on this issue. However, to open and begin the travel season, there must be a consensus in the Community.
It is true that A.Pranckevičius points out that the southern European countries (Greece, Italy, Croatia, Spain, Cyprus, Malta) are especially in favor of the immunity passport. However, some countries in northern and central Europe (Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg) raise doubts about data security, scientific evidence, discrimination or possible segregation. In addition, the question arises and what information should be included in the passport.
“Our position is that the passport should contain information on both the vaccinations and the person’s COVID-19, as well as the tests carried out and the negative results obtained. It is comprehensive information that allows you to say that a person is safe to travel and will not infect others. In this situation, we are awaiting the proposal of the European Commission on March 17, “he said.
URM nuotr./Arnoldas Pranckevičius
More people need to get vaccinated
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Health Živilė Simonaitytė explained that SAM is not in favor of the idea of a vaccine, but of an immunity passport. This means that such a document would cover not only those who have been vaccinated, but also those who are infected with coronavirus or have antibodies.
However, the deputy minister was somewhat skeptical about the idea of a national immunity passport.
“The fact is clear that vaccinated people do not contract severe forms, the fact that the chances of contracting a mild form are very low. But so is the fact that there is a reduced risk of infecting another person, but that risk still exists. Therefore, to link the percentage of vaccination or immunity with one or another higher permits in Lithuania, we must understand that we must have immunized a sufficient number of people, because those who are vaccinated will begin to move among those who do not have immunity, “she He said.
Photo by Lukas Balandis / 15min / Živilė Simonaitytė
According to Ž.Simonaitytė, this aspect is also relevant when traveling. And for those who claim that it would be possible to bring Israeli tourists to our country, he reiterated that, unfortunately, Lithuania has not yet developed sufficient immunity.
“Because vaccinated people can spread the virus, we have to wait for the moment and develop sufficient public immunity,” he said.
It is true that Ž.Simonaitytė pointed out that all data on vaccinated people is stored in the health system. Therefore, once the European Union has made a joint decision on what a “green passport” should look like, the idea should not be technically difficult to implement.
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