Photo: ©Techa Tungateja/123rf

By Frank Martin

To open or not to open the European borders for tourists next summer?

This is the dilemma for many countries in the world and also for Europe that already caresses the possible approval of the so called Covid Pass.

The draft and other similar in the tourism industry around the world, mixes initiatives such as negative PCR test vouchers, vaccination passports, good health and others.

The health mechanism seeks to reduce the risks of contagion due to the spread from tourists that arrives from abroad.

The Covid Pass is also related to outbreaks caused not only by people’s low perception of risk but also by virus mutations that are allies of the epidemic.

The growing concerns about the approach of summer and also of virus sprouts are justified.

According to data from the European Parliament, tourism accounts for 3.9% of the EU’s GDP in normal times and almost 12 million jobs depend on it.

The Shakespearean To be or not to be has thus been transformed into “openness or great unemployment”.

And the anxiety grows when April approaches.

The urgency is high and it does not seem likely that the European Parliament will cancel this possibility.

That is why it is expected that the certificate will begin its validity in June in a digital or paper format and will admit immunization with any of the vaccines available on the market.

The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders explained that it is not a vaccination passport, but a green certificate to avoid divisions and blockades between EU countries.

To achieve the results, it will facilitate the movement of European citizens and make the long-awaited tourism restart a reality.

The pass will be valid and binding for travel to all EU countries, “according to Reynders.

It will be accepted if probe a vaccination, the negativity of the test or the cure of the Covid is demonstrated in a correct way.

The European Commission is very interested in the Covid Pass. But much more in health security.

Everything will depend on the speed with which vaccination is carried out in the Union and its success.

The bad news is that the European immunization campaign has raised inner controversy especially in the selections of tourists original destinations.

One of the internal “fights” is already caused by countries demanding with some markets and with others indulgent.

While waiting for a final decision on the pass, the World Health Organization advised against requiring certification of the vaccine as a precondition for international travel.

The decision is related to the inequality of the immunization stage on the planet, some with many vaccines and others with very few or none.

“What if the possibly savior Pass of the Covid is not approved?

So far no expert commented over the possibility.