Kanawu Radio number 1 news portal
Europe wants to extend the corona travel pass ‘just to be sure’ until the middle of next year. It wants to be prepared for a possible increase in infections later this year or the appearance of new variants. The travel certificate, introduced in the middle of last year, normally expires in the middle of this year.
To prevent that there is nothing left after 30 June this year, the European Commission is already proposing an extension, so that Member States and Parliament have plenty of time to take decisions. At the moment, the Commission says, it is impossible to say what impact a possible new wave of infections could have later this year.
“We cannot predict how the pandemic will develop, but we can ensure that citizens can continue to benefit from a certificate that works and is accepted everywhere they go,” said European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders. “Without this extension, we risk having different national systems, with all the confusion and barriers that entails. I look forward to the day when we no longer need the corona certificate, but in the meantime it will allow us to travel around Europe safely and freely.”
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Clinical Trials
Compared to the current certificate, the Commission proposes a few changes. For example, the certificate should soon also be available on the basis of high-quality antigen tests, it must contain all vaccine doses, wherever administered, and it must also be available to persons participating in clinical trials with vaccines against corona. The Commission hopes that this will encourage the further study and development of vaccines.
More than 1.2 billion corona certificates have now been awarded and are used by about sixty countries. According to European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, the certificate has thus become ‘a world standard’.
