Since July 1, the covid passport has officially become valid for travel within the European Union. He certifies that its owner has no coronavirus. According to the European Commission, 200 million of these digital certificates have already been issued. By Wednesday evening, 26 EU countries, except for Ireland, were connected to the verification system. For the international airport of the Belgian capital, Thursday was the busiest day since the start of the pandemic.
A spokesman for Brussels Airlines says the covid passport is far from perfect:
“This is a long-awaited solution, but, unfortunately, it has not been finalized, and we cannot use the certificate to the full, – said Maaike Andris. – Today we tried to read the QR code, which is placed on the certificate, but it was difficult to determine its validity. In Europe, each country still has its own restrictions, This means that even fully vaccinated passengers from some countries must still carry a negative PCR test. And if we are not sure about the validity of the QR code, then we have insufficient data to accept such a passenger.”
Almost 20 thousand people arrived at the Brussels airport. Most of them looked worried at the prospect of going on a journey again. Evryn is going to visit her relatives, but her certificate does not prove that she is free of infection:
“I only got the first injection, so it doesn’t help me. I think the most important thing is the PCR test, because I’m not fully vaccinated.”
Glen is going on vacation to Greece after a year and a half at home. He arrived long before check-in, but the flight was delayed due to the long queue while checking documents.
“The process is very slow. We have been here for four hours, but now we are resting. There is time for a beer.”
One of the main problems remains that each country has its own tourism policy. The European Commissioner for Justice hopes that the covid passport will help solve it – if there is no invasion of new strains:
“Normally, if you follow the rules, the certificate is enough, except in the case of some negative changes,” said Didier Reinders. “We are watching with concern new options such as Delta+. It is currently available in some places.”
It was assumed that the Covid-19 certificate would save the passenger from additional testing or quarantine upon arrival in another country. However, member states reserve the right to introduce new restrictions if the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the place from which the traveler arrived worsens.