The ability for people to quickly and easily prove they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus has hit a bit of a snag in Europe, where a new digital COVID-19 certificate program is being blasted for being selective in which approved vaccines it considers worthy of inclusion.
The African Union’s objection to the European Union’s Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) selection process was made in a joint statement with the African Centers for Disease Control, claiming that the exclusion created what it calls “inequalities in access” by not recognizing the Covishield vaccine in the newly released tool that’s intended to give Europeans and other travelers easier access to and from the continent.
Covishield is the Indian counterpart of Vaxzervria, which was developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and is considered to be identical to the one made in Europe. It has been distributed in many low and middle-income countries through the COVAX program in Europe, but it is not approved by the European Medicines Agency so it’s not part of the EUDCC.
“The current applicability guidelines put at risk the equitable treatment of persons having received their vaccines in countries profiting from the EU-supported COVAX Facility, including the majority of the AU member states,” according to the joint letter from AU and the ACDC to EUDCC administrators.
Covishield is approved by more than 40 countries worldwide as an acceptable COVID vaccination and has received the blessing of the World Health Organization. It is one of seven vaccines included on the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use list.
What Covishield’s Omission Means
The EUDCC, which officially launched July 1, allows unrestricted travel for EU citizens and those who are legally staying or living in Europe who have had Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca-Oxford or Johnson & Johnson vaccinations.
Despite Covishield’s omission from the EUDCC, Estonia, Greece, Iceland Slovenia and Spain are among the countries to independently recognize it as a viable vaccine. Other reports included as many as nine European countries as places where Covishield is a viable vaccination alternative but officials in those countries have yet to confirm that’s true, further leading to confusion for those with that vaccine.
Four airlines say the EUDCC is already causing them problems because of its inconsistency and called on EUDCC administrators to streamline their verification standards and protocols for the certificates.
“We need member states to urgently implement these tools in a harmonized and effective manner,” according to the letter from four airline unions to European officials. “We view these as essential prerequisites to travel, to avoid long passenger queues and waiting times which would create new health hazards and inevitably result in operational issues for airports and airlines.”
The Importance Of Digital Access
This inconsistency in access to different parts of Europe depending on which vaccine travelers have received has yet to become an issue in the U.S., where most business these days encourage those who aren’t vaccinated to wear masks but there’s yet to be any sort of formal checks whether the people who aren’t covering their faces are actually vaccinated at all.
Walmart recently announced the launch of a digital health wallet, a which allows users to access personal health information, including COVID-19 vaccination records. Walmart’s digital health wallet lets users decide which medical information they want to share and what should remain private.
Digital health passports are becoming increasingly popular among healthcare providers and for their patients, who are being asked in some places to show proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations before entering the premises without some sort of face covering.
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