Tourists may have to use paper Covid passports
HOLIDAYMAKERS may have to use paper Covid certificates to prove they are vaccinated when the foreign travel ban is lifted from May 17.
Downing Street admitted yesterday that the NHS app may not be ready to be used as a vaccine passport in time and the Government is preparing for “another approach” in the interim for people travelling abroad.
At least 20 countries have indicated they will accept vaccination certificates as an alternative to PCR tests for holidaymakers to prove their Covid status.
Only Greece, however, has so far explicitly said it will take paper certificates, despite concerns that they are more easily forged. Rita Marques, Portugal’s tourism minister, said her country would accept only a digital passport because of the risk of fakes.
Spain, which is due to test its own app at more than 40 airports, said it was in talks with Britain over the need for a “mutually recognisable” app. Italy last night became the latest European country to say it would welcome vaccinated Britons shortly. A senior industry source involved in the discussions on the tech said: “I suspect they will take whatever evidence we have in the short term, whether it is another private app solution, a paper certificate, a letter from your GP or a negative PCR test.”
The Government was expected to name on Friday a “tiny handful” of green-list countries to which holidaymakers would be able to travel without quarantining upon their return. Most of Europe would be amber, requiring 10-day home quarantine and PCR tests when travellers returned to the UK.
Without the acceptance of a vaccination certificate, travellers could instead have to prove their Covid status by taking a PCR or lateral flow test even if they have been inoculated.
The NHS app, used for appointments and prescriptions, is being developed by NHSX, the health service’s technology arm. The app allows patients to view their vaccination status if their GP has permitted access.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said last week that the app would display evidence that someone had been vaccinated or recently tested. But the Prime Minister’s spokesman indicated officials were working on alternative plans when international travel resumes, which is expected on May 17.
“Obviously we will be able to confirm ahead of the 17th, at the earliest, what measures are used for those initial countries that are available for travel, be it the app or another approach,” said the spokesman. “There are other routes to achieving the same end goal. We are working on the app at the moment … and we will be able to confirm ahead of the 17th at the earliest what approaches we will be using.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “The Government is working on providing individuals with the means to demonstrate their Covid status easily – through a digital route as well as a route for people who don’t have access to a smartphone. Security and privacy will be at the core of our approach. Use of the NHS App is being considered as part of the digital route.”
Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Agency travel consultancy, said: “Just because a country is on the UK’S green list, it doesn’t mean it won’t have its own set of restrictions for when you enter. So people are going to have to be a bit of a sleuth to interpret which countries are truly open. Some may say we don’t need a vaccination passport. Others will insist on a PCR test like Britain.”
Coronavirus tests in Austria will be made free for foreigners in order to boost tourism.
Elisabeth Köstinger, the tourism minister, told Kleine Zeitung newspaper that the revenues from increased visitor numbers would offset the costs. “In the past, guests wanted to know whether there was free Wi-fi,” she said. Now, the offering of free Covid tests “is decisive for the booking”.
Austria already offers free tests for citizens and residents.