Digital Green Certificate: Equitable Solution to Traveling Safely in 2021?

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has put a sudden halt to our favourite activities. Last summer we thought we were beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some of us even got to get on a plane and visit their favourite destinations, armed with face masks and sanitizers. With the implementation of the Digital Green Certificate, this summer will hopefully be different, as some people will be able to travel safely in Europe. But will this be fair?

How will it work?

With the ongoing vaccination campaigns all over Europe, this March the European Commission proposed the creation of a Digital Green Certificate in order to foster safe cross-border travel. The document will be issued electronically or on paper in the form of a QR code and will be available to people who got vaccinated, those who recovered from COVID and subsequently developed antibodies and those who result negative for COVID before departure. Starting from June, all 27 EU member states plus Schengen Area countries will supposedly acknowledge the Digital Green Certificate and open their borders. Each country’s government will however decide whether the certificate will be required for entry into indoor venues.

What opportunities will the Digital Green Certificate open up?

First and foremost, we would be able to travel again. Unlike summer 2020, this summer we would be able to travel safely, knowing that a lot of people would have already been inoculated and/or developed antibodies. As a consequence, the tourism industry of all countries involved in the programme would be benefited, as safe international travel would be made possible again. It’s not by chance that this measure is being eagerly pushed by airline companies as well as Europe’s main summer tourism destinations (among which Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece), which can’t afford to lose another holiday season.

But it’s not just about travel, since restaurants, bars, gyms and cinemas are likely to reopen to people in possession of the document. However, this will be independently decided by each country. Being finally able to eat in your favourite restaurant or going to the cinema to watch that movie you’ve been waiting for would be big steps forward to normality.

Also, the Green Certificate might encourage more people to get the vaccine, as it would open up many opportunities. As we know, concerns for Covid vaccines are spreading like wild fire and a lot of people are adamant that they won’t get inoculated. Knowing that they would be allowed to enjoy more freedoms once vaccinated, could change their minds and motivate them to get the jab.

What are its main drawbacks?

However, the Digital Green Certificate doesn’t come without concerns. First off, it may put some at risk. It’s still unclear how long COVID-19 vaccines protect us, and people who were inoculated early this year might have lost some degrees of immunity by this summer. Consequently, already-vaccinated individuals would get the document and be allowed to travel and to enter indoor venues, but might catch the virus — and infect others — anyway.

Some other concerns are of an ethical nature. The certificate may come as discriminatory to those who won’t have been vaccinated by this summer. As for now, there are great inequities regarding vaccine distribution between rich and poor countries — as well as between older and younger people. And not just in Europe. It’s true that a negative COVID-19 test before departure is enough to get the Digital Green Certificate, but COVID-19 tests aren’t 100% reliable, as they cannot always detect the virus — especially soon after one has been exposed to it. As a result, people who won’t have been inoculated but test negative for COVID-19, can get the certificate, but might be carrying the virus without knowing.

The creation of the EU’s Digital Green Certificate would undoubtedly be a major game changer for every country involved. Nevertheless, although the European Commission aims to prevent discrimination against individuals who are not vaccinated, such discrimination seems inevitable. The implementation of the Certificate would actually create disparities between citizens of vaccinated and unvaccinated countries, as the second ones would lose out on opportunities.