The European Commission has recommended that EU member
states adopt an approach to international travel that would see the validity of
Covid-19 vaccine certificates drop to nine months.
The commission said booster vaccination programmes across
the EU partially prompted its recommendation for “a ‘person-based’ approach to
travel measures and a standard acceptance period for vaccination certificates
of nine months” after a second dose of a vaccine is administered, unless the
person receives a booster dose.
It said: “The nine-month period takes into account the
guidance of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on the
administration of booster doses as of six months and provides for an additional
period of three months to ensure that national vaccination campaigns can adjust
and citizens can have access to boosters.”
The commission is also recommending an update to the EU’s
traffic light system for travel, which it says should combine new cases with a
region’s vaccine uptake to determine entry requirements for travellers. It
suggests those travelling from ‘green’, low-risk countries should not be
subject to any restrictions, while those coming from ‘dark red’, high-risk
nations should be discouraged from travelling altogether, with unvaccinated
people to be required to undergo pre-departure testing and quarantine on
arrival.
In addition, it is calling for an ‘emergency brake’
procedure to immediately shut down travel to and from areas where new Covid-19 variants
emerge. The commission has recommended this measure be taken by EU member
states now in relation to the B.1.1.529 variant identified in southern Africa.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has
pleaded with EU leaders to take caution in regard to the recommendation, saying that maintaining a 12-month validity of the EU DCC would protect the travel
industry’s recovery, which has been slower than initially anticipated.
Regional vice president for Europe Rafael Schvartzman said: “The
EU DCC is a great success in driving a common continent-wide approach to
managing the Covid-19 health crisis and in facilitating the freedom of people
to travel again. It underpins a fragile recovery in the travel and tourism
sector. And it is critical that any changes to it have a joined-up approach
that recognises the impact of divergent policies by individual member states and
promotes further harmonisation across Europe.
“The proposal to manage limitations on the validity of the
DCC creates many potential problems. People who received the vaccine before
March, including many health workers, will need to have accessed a booster by
11 January or may be unable to travel.
"Will EU states agree on a standardised
time period? How will the requirement be harmonised with the many states that
have developed Covid passes that are reciprocally recognised by the EU?
"Moreover,
the World Health Organization has said booster shots should be prioritised for
vulnerable groups that have not had a first dose, let alone a booster. Worldwide,
the vaccine programme still has a long way to go in many developing states and
the focus should be on ensuring vaccine equity. Given that the majority of air
travellers are not in the most vulnerable groups, allowing a 12-month time
period before a booster is needed would be a more practical approach for
travellers and a fairer approach for vaccine equity.”
Furthermore, the commission recommends that travellers
vaccinated with non-EU approved vaccines should have to present a negative
pre-departure PCR test result.
Schvartzman said such a move would discourage people from
certain countries from travelling to the EU, even if their country’s case rates
are low.
He added: “Governments should prioritise policies that are
simple, predictable and practical in order to ensure passengers regain
confidence to travel and airlines confidence to reopen routes. The ECDC is
explicit in its latest risk report that travel restrictions are unlikely to
have any major impact on the timing or intensity of local epidemics. We
appreciate that authorities must remain vigilant but discriminating among
vaccines that have been approved by the WHO is a waste of resources and an unnecessary
barrier to people’s freedom to travel.”