Govt to roll out vaccine certification by mid-May – reports
James ChappleThe government is reportedly preparing to roll out vaccination certification in time for the summer holiday season.
The Telegraph reports the industry has been briefed by the government on the regime, which could be ready for a 17 May restart.
It reports the certification scheme will provide British travellers an official government-approved document verifying their vaccination status for use at foreign borders.
The EU is working on its own digital green pass proposal, which will seek to restore intra-EU travel using vaccination and test certification. It has confirmed the scheme will have provisions for third countries, such as the UK.
Greece is among a number of countries that have pledged to smooth entry for visitors that have been vaccinated against Covid-19, or tested negative prior to departure.
Other countries that are reportedly ready to reopen to vaccinated Brits include Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Croatia.
Portugal’s tourism minister last month said the country would look to reopen to British travellers through a combination of vaccination and immunisation certification, and testing.
Croatia, meanwhile, will allow non-EU tourists to enter the country so long as they can evidence their negative Covid status via similar means.
According to The Telegraph, government officials held a call with the Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group on Wednesday afternoon (21 April) to brief sector leaders.
It reports attendees were told the government’s aim was to give people the ability to prove their vaccine status by the time international travel restarts.
A limited resumption of international travel is expected from 17 May, although both the transport secretary Grant Shapps and aviation and maritime minister Robert Courts has insisted this will yet be subject to a review early next month.
The government’s transport committee on Thursday (22 April) criticised the Global Travel Taskforce’s "cautious" framework for the resumption of international travel.
It is urging government to work bilaterally with partner countries to agree mutual recognition of travel health certification, and establish a system "based on a single digital app" to process health certification.
‘Govt priority’
Several national newspapers on Thursday reported details of an initial meeting of EU member states to discuss the criteria by which the bloc will reopen to different markets, such as their incidence of Covid infection or the progress of their vaccination programme.
A Department for Transport spokesperson told The Daily Mail: "We are working on a solution to enable residents to prove their Covid-19 status, including vaccination status, to other countries on the outbound leg. We are working on this as a priority and intend to have the solution ready as soon as possible."
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