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Digital Green Certificates, proposed by the European Commission

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    World Affairs
  • Published
    19th Mar, 2021

The European Commission proposed to create a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate the safe and free movement of citizens within the European Union (EU) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Context

  • The European Commission proposed to create a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate the safe and free movement of citizens within the European Union (EU) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Digital Green Certificate

  • A Digital Green Certificate is proof that a person has either been:
    • Vaccinated against COVID-19
    • has received a negative test result
    • or has recovered from COVID-19
  • Features: It will be in digital or paper format complete with a QR code and will be free of charge.
  • Issuing authority: The certificate can be issued by hospitals, testing centers, and health authorities.
  • Acceptance: It will be accepted in all EU countries and will help to ensure that the restrictions imposed in different areas within the EU can be lifted in a coordinated manner.
  • Need: In the EU and across the world, the tourism industry has been severely impacted due to the spread of the disease.

Similar Initiatives

  • Vaccine Passports: Israel became the first country to issue certificates called “vaccine passports” that will allow vaccinated individuals to use some facilities and attend events.
    • o   Denmark also started the process of rolling out digital passports that would act as proof for those individuals who have been vaccinated.
  • Release Certificates: Chile had proposed “release certificates” meant for those who had recovered from COVID-19.

WHO stance on these documents

  • World Health Organization (WHO) had advised against using such certificates because of lack of evidence that a person infected with Covid-19 could not get the infection again.

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