The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Covid-19: 1 million health passes already issued in Europe, announces Thierry Breton

2021-06-09T21:55:57.071Z


Traveling to Futuroscope in Poitiers, on the occasion of its reopening after 7 months of inactivity, European Commissioner Thierry Breton


“We arrive at the station, take advantage of the reopening of Futuroscope this morning.

"In the TGV between Paris and Poitiers this Wednesday morning, the announcement did not go unnoticed.

"Economic recovery will require a restart of tourism," said European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, when he got off the train.

The reopening of leisure parks is one link.

"

Nearly 3,000 visitors are expected for this first day, in what is one of the five main French amusement parks (2 million visitors per year).

The former Minister of the Economy knows it well: he was its project manager in the 1980s. “This reopening could not have taken place without the success of the European vaccination campaign,” he believes.

By mid-July, 70% of the adult European population will have been vaccinated.

And the European digital vaccine certificate, as well as their national counterparts (

Editor's note: the

French health pass

was launched this Wednesday

), are essential tools to support this recovery.

"

When will the European vaccination pass be available?

“From July 1,” explains Thierry Breton, “for the 27 Member States.

We are talking more about a digital vaccination certificate.

For the moment, nine countries out of the 27 in the EU are already operational: Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Croatia and Poland;

as well as Lithuania and Spain, which have just joined the other seven on Tuesday.

Between them, they already have more than 1 million certificates issued.

France has not yet taken part.

Why has France not yet joined the device?

It will indeed be necessary to wait another fortnight before the data collected by the French health pass can be transferred to the European system.

Why this delay?

Has France dragged its feet?

His government, relying on a panel of experts, has indeed long spoken against the idea of ​​such a project.

Thus on December 11, 2020, Jérôme Salomon, the Director General of Health, representing the Ministry of Health in front of his counterparts from the twenty-seven countries of the European Union (EU), stated in a meeting report of the European Committee of health security that "France is not in favor of an immune health passport".

"The freedom of movement of people should not be conditional on a certificate", he justified then.

Read also Health pass: these places in which it will be mandatory from Wednesday

But since then, water has flowed under the bridges.

There is no longer any question of calling into question what is now considered "a tool for economic recovery".

"There is no delay," says one in the entourage of Thierry Breton.

For once, we cannot repeat in France the trial of the Tous anti-Covid application, whose success of the first version was mixed.

It is even here rather the opposite.

The country got involved very early on, and was proactive during the testing phases.

"

How does it work ?

“The first rule is that the certificate is based on volunteering,” adds Thierry Breton. It is absolutely not mandatory. »Three main pieces of information will be recorded there. The first: are we vaccinated? If so, how many doses? One or two? Knowing that access to travel abroad can only be done from 15 days after the injection of the second dose. Second information: did we have the Covid? The presence of antibodies in the body, identified through a test, will determine it. If the result is positive, it also gives access to travel up to six months after infection.

Finally, third information: if we are not concerned by any of the first two points, the certificate must contain, to be usable, a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours, or an antigenic test of less than 48 hours. Enough to bring down the borders within the EU. Before a possible extension to other regions of the world. Discussions are underway, particularly with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2021-06-09

You may like

Business 2024-02-15T10:10:38.370Z

Trends 24h

Business 2024-03-29T08:06:33.223Z
Business 2024-03-29T11:55:15.193Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.