Will EU’s vaccine passport affect Bahraini travellers?

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

While the new ‘vaccine passport’ programme gets into force in the European Union, concerns are mounting for people all over the globe, including those in the Middle East, who had travel plans to countries in the European Union.

The reason - only four vaccines are currently on the European Union’s “green pass”, which allows restriction-free travel across Europe.

Only those who had inoculated using any of these vaccines, the European Medicines Agency says, are eligible for the “green pass”, which acts as digital proof that a person has either been vaccinated against Covid-19 or received a negative test result or recovered from the infection.

What if a person took a jab not approved by EMA and wants to travel to EU countries? Will they be banned?

No, is the answer.

According to EMA, the certificate “is for facilitating free movements of citizens in the EU” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is not ‘absolutely’ compulsory.

They had made clear that the certificate “will not be a pre-condition to free movement, which is a fundamental right in the EU.”

Those who do not possess the certificate will be subject to the usual travel restrictions and quarantine rules, in effect in countries of the union.

As a case in point, Bahrainis travelling to France will have to produce a negative RT-PCR report before boarding and repeat the test after reaching France for inoculating using one of the vaccines not approved by EMA.

Bahrainis thus reached there will also have to undergo “mandatory quarantine supervised by security.” In a nutshell, the EU “green pass” facilitates travel and not rejects anyone.

Does it matter which vaccine was received?

To find out, let’s look at the vaccines approved by EMA.

So far, the EMA list has only four vaccines - Vaxzevria (Oxford-AstraZeneca), Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech), Spi kevax (Moderna) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

However, the agency clarifies: “When it comes to waiving free movement restrictions, Member States will have to accept vaccination certificates for vaccines which received EU marketing authorisation. Member states may decide to extend this also to EU travellers that received another vaccine.” “It is also for the Member States to decide whether they accept a vaccination certificate after one dose or after completing a full vaccination cycle.”

What details are on the certificate?

The green pass will have a name, date of birth, date of issuance, the name of the vaccine or the details of the negative test result or recovery from Covid-19.

How do you get the certificate?

EMA says the national authorities are in charge of the programme.

The document can be issued by test centres or health authorities or directly via an eHealth portal.

The digital version is storable on a mobile device while also available as a paper version.

The certificate contains a digital signature which is verified by scanning an enclosed QR code.

How will it help the free movement?

The European Commission said it has a gateway through which it is possible to verify the signatures across the EU.

“When travelling, the EU Digital COVID Certificate holder should in principle is exempted from free movement restrictions.”

The Member states, the statement says, should refrain from imposing additional travel restrictions on the holders of an EU Digital COVID certificate unless it is necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health.

How will it work?

• The EU Digital COVID Certificate contains a QR code with a digital signature to protect it against falsification.
• The QR code is scanned and the signature verified. Each issuing body (e.g. a hospital, a test centre, a health authority) has its digital signature key.
• All of these are in a secure database in each country.
• The European Commission has built a gateway to verify all digital certificates across the EU. The personal data of the certificate holder does not pass through the gateway. The European Commission also helped the Member States to develop national software and apps to issue, store and verify certificates.

Will it affect travellers from Bahrain to countries in the European Union?

Certainly not, is the answer.

There are hardly any reasons for concerns to Bahraini travellers, who are having travel plans covering the EU member states, for the vaccines on the EU list are also in use here in Bahrain.

In all, Bahrain had approved six vaccines for use in the Kingdom.

Now, let’s compare that with those on the EU list.

Pfizer/BioNTech or Comirnaty

One of six vaccines in use here is the BNT162b2 of Pfizer/BioNTech, which reportedly is the same as the Comirnaty approved by the EMA. Reports say both vaccines have the same manufacturing process and procedures and meet the identically finished product specifications. Singapore said it has started labelling their BNT162b2 as Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty in the records to remain EU compliant. This vaccine, the EU says, has a 95% efficacy against the virus, and most side effects are mild to modern in severity and are gone within a few days.

ASTRAZENECA or Vaxzevria ((ChAdOx1-S [recombinant])

This vaccine is on the EU list by its new name Vaxzevria - labelled previously as the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, as in use here in the Kingdom. According to EMA, the main trials showed that the vaccine has around 60% efficacy.

Germany accepts Pfizer, J&J, Covishield /AstraZeneca

The German Embassy, in a tweet, clarified that Bahraini citizens who had passed 14 days after taking the second dose of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Covishield/AstraZeneca are eligible to receive the “green pass”. Kai Boeckmann, the German Ambassador to Bahrain, said that the booster doses from the EMA approved vaccines are accepted only for “COVID recovered” travellers. Germany would not provide a “green pass” to travellers who had taken other booster shots in combination with Sputnik and Sinopharm jabs, not recognised at the moment.

Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) Ad26. COV2.S

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine Janssen is on the EMA “green list” and has also been authorised for emergency use in the Kingdom by the National Health Regulatory Authority in February this year. Janssen was the fifth vaccine to be approved by the Kingdom for emergency use. EMA says the jab offers 67% efficacy, and most of its side effects are mild to moderate in severity and last only a few days. Unlike others, Janssen is a single-injection vaccine, usually into the muscle of the upper arm.

Sputnik, Sinopharm

Sputnik is the next vaccine available for citizens and residents in the Kingdom. This vaccine is not on the EU approved list eligible for the green pass. As of now, no word is available on when this would appear on the EU list. The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm/China National Pharmaceutical Group is also not on the current EU list.

Why not Covishield?

Though Vaxzevria has been among the vaccines approved by EMA, Covishield, derived from AstraZeneca shot, is not on the list as the Serum Institute of India has not applied for approval. EMA says even if the vaccine is the same, different manufacturers of the same product need to submit separate applications for approval from EMA. “This is because the EMA takes into consideration local manufacturing facilities.” However, the German embassy in Bahrain has tweeted that they will accept those who took the Covishield jabs, which is also part of the international COVAX alliance.