Southern European countries (eg, Greece) are in urgent need of tourist Euro’s. This explains the EU’s drive to develop a Digital Green Certificate to “facilitate safe free movement inside the EU”. Hence, the EU presents this initiative as an add-on to Article 21 of the TFEU, which regulates the right to freedom of movement within the EU.
However, Article 19 of that same TFEU is about non-discrimination (ie, “sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation”). In my view, it’s very hard – and perhaps nearly impossible – to argue that a vaccine passport is not discriminating (eg, against any religion resisting vaccines). This argument is a legal one. There is more.
Most likely, the EU will know and understand this legal discrepancy and will present a voluntary or a non-mandatory Digital Green Certificate. This is a recipe for future confusion within member-states and tourists will suffer from that (eg, illegal extradition).
It’s remarkable that the yellow International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis as established in 1933, and “also known as the Carte Jaune or Yellow Card”, is not being used. I carried this vaccine passport during my trips to Kenya and/but was never asked for it. I suppose the Digital Green Certificate will suffer a similar fate.
Some people have already warned for a new Great Divide (my blogs) between people who have and have not been vaccinated. In my view, that “divide” already exists (eg, in various international Bible Belt areas) since vaccines were made available in the 1880s by Louis Pasteur.
More important are these four arguments:
- inoculation or vaccination “only” decreases the chance of getting sick (eg, BBC, NYT);
- inoculation does not prevent transmission to others (eg, BBC, Haaretz, my 2021 blog);
- Inoculation is effective for three months up to one year;
- Virus mutations may make Covid vaccines ineffective in a year or less (CNBC).
Hence, to some extent a vaccine passport is – ironically – a license to spread the virus.
Inoculation is about accountability and responsibility; for yourself and for others. A risk analysis (see my 2020 blog) should be part of your consideration. Until now, no one has been able to explain to me why I should take a vaccine for a (cumulative) fatality risk below 1 in 1,000 (ie, < 0.1%). Actually, that lack of arguments makes me feel comfortably numb.
Comfortably numb (1980) by Pink Floyd
artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2, Wiki-3
I’ll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.
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