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  • 01-03-2021 17:09

EU/Presidency: Vaccination certificate will allow 'resuming normality' in daily lives - minister


Lisbon, Mar. 1, 2021 (Lusa) – Portugal's Health Minister, Marta Temido, stressed on Monday that the vaccination certificate, whose proposal should be presented this month by the European Commission, will allow "resuming normality" in the daily lives of European citizens "in the best possible conditions".

"Today, more than ever, we need a common approach to the safe movement of our citizens", Marta Temido began by stressing at a press conference after a remote meeting with the health ministers of the 27 EU Member States, which she chaired from the Belem Cultural Centre in Lisbon under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU .

The European Commission revealed today that it will present later this month a legislative proposal to create a free-transit digital pass to allow European citizens to travel again at a time of pandemic.

Asked what information will be available in this digital tool, Marta Temido explained that "it is clear that one of the aspects is the vaccination status" of citizens, that is, "whether the person has been vaccinated or not".

"But it may refer to other important information, for example, regarding the circumstance of the person having already undergone a Covid-19 test and the result of that test or information about whether the person has had Covid-19 or not".

For the minister, this free-transit digital pass is an "important tool" that allows citizens "to face a world where Covid-19 circulates as a disease" and where the aim is "to return to normality in the best possible conditions".

European Commission Executive Vice-President Margaritis Schinas stressed, however, that it is not possible to advance information on the final draft of this proposal, which will be formally presented by the EU executive on 17 March.

Schinas explained that the concept of this "European product" will have a "strong digital component", in which information will be available "such as whether a Covid-19 vaccination was given or not, test results, the recovery, security issues, data privacy legislation, all the necessary security requirements.

"We are aware of the enormous efforts and sacrifices that the people of Europe are making right now. We know that they carry a huge burden on their shoulders, and we want to lighten that burden, we want to organise the opening up of the European Union in a secure way".

The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, stressed that the EU is waiting for "an increase in production" of Covid-19 vaccines "in the coming weeks of March", adding that she is "also waiting for the evaluation of other vaccines in the coming weeks".

"To date, 33 million doses have been administered and at least 11 million Europeans have already been vaccinated," she pointed out, guaranteeing that the European Commission is working "to establish contacts with companies to try to increase vaccine capacity".

The meeting was attended by European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, and representatives from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

BYC/AYLS // AYLS

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