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In the fight against the Corona variant Omicron, the EU is backing accelerated booster vaccinations. “Offering vaccinations to all and providing booster doses is crucial and urgent,” stated in the joint conclusions on the Corona pandemic adopted by European leaders at their Brussels summit. Brussels also plans to limit the validity of vaccination certificates for travel within the EU to nine months.
As a result, a general vaccination requirement in the EU is not yet on the horizon. Both Austria and Germany have initiated such a measure, and in Germany the Bundestag is expected to vote on it shortly. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently called the debate necessary for all of Europe.
The highly contagious Omicron variant could become the dominant variant in Europe by mid-January, according to the EU Commission. “It’s a race against time,” warned Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. So far, about 67 percent of Europe’s total population is fully vaccinated. However, in three countries – Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia – the vaccination rate is below 50 percent.
Some countries, such as Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Greece, have tightened their entry rules because of the Omicron variant. There, even vaccinated people must present a negative Corona test upon arrival. On Thursday, France also announced a tightening of its travel restrictions. According to government sources, non-essential travel to or from the United Kingdom will be banned starting Saturday.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the highly contagious Omicron variant has spread rapidly. On Thursday, U.K. authorities recorded a peak in new Corona infections for the second day in a row, with 88,376 cases.
Brussels fears a patchwork of different travel regulations in light of the latest developments and now wants to standardize the validity of vaccination certificates across the EU. Corona vaccination certificates should only be valid for a maximum of nine months for travel within the EU in the future, according to officials in Brussels on Thursday. The EU Commission wants to make a corresponding proposal before Christmas. The goal is to motivate citizens to quickly get a booster vaccination.
Until now, the vaccination certificates recognized throughout Europe were valid indefinitely. However, because of the highly contagious Omicron variant, member countries such as France have already announced that they will no longer recognize them for entry after a certain period – in France’s case, as early as seven months after full vaccination.
The proposal would reportedly be binding on member states and could take effect in February unless a qualified majority of countries vote against it. The period of validity of the certificates outside of travel – for example for visits to restaurants or for shopping – would reportedly continue to be left up to individual countries.
- sources:APA/AFP/picture: Photo by Parang Mehta on Unsplash
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