WHO fears Covid passports would exacerbate inequalities

Concerns raised as new infection rates increase in Europe

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  A German worker tests a French national travelling into Germany at the German-French border near Saarbrucken. Germany announced Sunday that travelers from France's northeastern Moselle region will face additional restrictions. AP Photo

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  A volunteer receives a dose of either the CureVac vaccine or a placebo, during a study by the German biotech firm CureVac as part of a testing for a new vaccine, in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters

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  Commuters wearing face masks walk on a platform in the main train station in Frankfurt, Germany. AP Photo

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  A German police staff member receives AstraZeneca's vaccine in Munich, Germany. Reuters

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  An open clothes shop in Klazienaveen, The Netherlands. Shop owners have decided to open up their shops in a protest against the coronavirus measures. EPA

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  An official puts warning tape around tables and chairs set up at a cafe in Alkmaar, The Netherlands. A group of 65 regional departments of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN) have called on catering entrepreneurs throughout the Netherlands to re-open their businesses in protest against restrictions. AFP

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  Chief County Health Officer Tunde Szabo shows a box of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at the freezing chamber of the Public Health Department in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary. AP Photo

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  Soldiers with face masks prepare for the welcoming ceremony for Swiss President Guy Parmelin in Vienna, Austria. AP Photo

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  A healthcare worker removes the stitches from a homeless man in a hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. Prague is using hotels to accommodate homeless people who tested positive for coronavirus. EPA

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  A healthcare worker holds the hand of a homeless woman in a hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. EPA

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  People stroll along the Sant'Angelo bridge in Rome, Italy. AP Photo

Covid-19 vaccine passports could be unavoidable despite the risk of exacerbating inequalities, the World Health Organisation said.
Hans Kluge, WHO's regional director for Europe, also raised concerns that vaccinated people could still spread the virus.

“The overarching concern, of course, is the access to the vaccines, whether we are going to exacerbate inequalities. That … has some ethical and legal issues,” he said.

The European Commission is set to propose how an EU-wide digital passport could work later this month. President Ursula von der Leyen said the document would allow people to travel around the bloc safely for work or tourism.

Dr Kluge said important considerations needed to be taken into account.

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  Nurses from a mobile vaccination team are filmed as they prepare a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Seidewitz, near Naumburg, Germany. Getty Images

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  An employee of a re-opened garden center wearing a face mask stands between flowers in Ludwigsburg, southern Germany. Garden centers had been closed since December 2020. AFP

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  Polar bear Vitus is seen in his enclosure in a re-opened zoo, which was closed for several months during lockdown, in Neumuenster, Germany. Reuters

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  Almost totally empty streets due to coronavirus restrictions are seen in Turin, Italy. EPA

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  Nuns wait to receive the coronavirus disease vaccine in Bergamo, Italy. Reuters

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  Several people practice yoga at a outdoor sport complex in Valencia, eastern Spain. Valencia's regional authorities have eased restrictions, allowing outdoor sports without physical contact and a maximum of four people. EPA

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  Local police officers queue to be vaccinated in Valencia, Spain. EPA

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  French President Emmanuel Macron talks with a patient as he visits a vaccination center at the Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie in Bobigny, outside Paris, France. AP Photo

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  People gather on th banks of the River Seine on a sunny afternoon in Paris, France. AFP

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  A French border police officer checks passengers as they arrive at Nice Cote d'Azur Airport in Nice, France. Reuters

“The WHO does not recommend passports but I also believe that, as we see already, somehow they may be unavoidable. That’s why we are assessing the feasibility and desirability of such a requirement, taking into account what I call some caveats,” he said.

“First of all, from a scientific point of view, how long does a vaccine give immunity? It is not so clear yet.

Dr Kluge said vaccination might not prevent transmission of the virus. “It’s not a watertight thing,” he said.

France and Germany said creating Covid passports would be unfair given that only a small amount of people have received two doses of the vaccine. Belgium’s Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes said there must be “respect for the principle of non-discrimination”.

Dr Kluge said new Covid-19 cases were rising for the first time in six weeks in the WHO’s Europe region, which comprises 53 countries – 45 of which are vaccinating.

"Last week, new cases of Covid-19 in Europe rose nine per cent to just above one million. This brought a promising six-week decline in new cases to an end, with more than half of our region seeing increasing numbers of new infections," he said.

"We are seeing a resurgence in central and eastern Europe. New cases are also on the rise in several western European countries where rates were already high.”