France will also not allow people vaccinated with Sputnik V or Chinese formulas to enter

The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, said on Monday that only “Vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency” They will be recognized by the European Health Pass. “It is excluded that he goes to France with a vaccine of which we are not sure of the protection»Said Beaune, referring to Russian vaccine Sputnik or Chinese Sinopharm.

The European covid certificate will come into force on July 1 to facilitate travel within the European Union (EU) despite the pandemic. There are three possibilities for obtaining this passport: whether the person tests negative for PCR or antigens, whether they are immune after suffering from the disease, or whether the person is vaccinated against covid-19.

However, not all vaccines used in the world will be used to obtain the certificate. All EU countries accept the four vaccines approved by the block: Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Some European countries may accept people with vaccines used in the EU (Sputnik V in Hungary) or approved by the WHO (Sinopharm). But France announced on Monday that it would only recognize vaccines “authorized by the European Medicines Agency”.

“It is not possible to travel to France with a vaccine which we are not sure that it will protect us”, declared Monday the Secretary of State for European Affairs of France, Clément Beaune, questioned by the channel BFMTV, referring to the Russian vaccine Sputnik, used in Hungary, or the Chinese vaccine.

“The vaccine in this case will not be enough, whether it comes from China, Chile or Hungary … Because we want to be sure that people who come to France are well protected», He stressed.

“We will take our own national decisions to anticipate a little and start to have easier trips,” warned Clément Beaune, specifying that “government decisions” will be taken “in the first week of June on the resumption of travel”.

The health passport will be applied in 30 countries (the 27 of the EU, plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein). The EU is in talks with several third countries, such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as with international organizations such as the WHO and air transport associations for mutual recognition and l interoperability.

The EU’s decision

The European Union has reached an agreement to reopen its borders to tourists vaccinated against COVID-19 in the coming weeks. The condition is that they have completed the vaccination cycle, with two doses in almost all existing vaccines, at least fourteen days before their trip to Europe. But it cannot be any vaccine, those traveling to countries in the bloc must be immunized with one of the developments authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or by the World Health Organization.

Thus, the list is reduced to Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Sinopharm. European authorities have said that list could be expanded as the EMA and WHO authorize more vaccines. But it’s not yet clear when that will happen.

Last Friday, Spain, the second largest tourist destination in the world before the pandemic, announced that it would allow anyone vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter its territory from June 7 with formulas approved by the World Health Organization. health or the European Medicines Agency (EMA), regardless of its country of origin. The President made the announcement in his speech at the event held at the Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur) to present the digital green certificate that will facilitate mobility between European Union (EU) countries.

The head of the Spanish executive stressed that from June 7, all citizens of countries with which there is no free movement will be able to enter Spain, provided that they have a certificate attesting to having received the complete immunization schedule.

This decision excludes Argentines and citizens of other countries vaccinated with the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. As it turns out, neither the WHO nor the EMA have so far included it in their list for emergency use.

Those who have received a single dose of one of the vaccines recognized in Europe are also excluded, As it will be an exclusive requirement to have received the complete vaccination schedule with two doses (except that of Johnson & Johson, which is only one).

Spain has announced that it will admit those vaccinated with Chinese formulas such as Sinovac (which is mainly applied in Chile) or Sinopharm (it is applied mainly in Argentina and Brazil) because although they have not yet been approved by the European agency EMA, they have been approved by the WHO. France, on the other hand, will only allow those who have vaccines cleared by the EMA to enter, so for now Chinese vaccines are excluded.

With RFI information

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