Health ministers from the G7 nations agreed Friday to devise a means for the “mutual acceptance” of vaccine passports to help restore global travel and commerce, days after the EU said that its digital Covid-19 vaccination certificate would be open to certain non-EU international travelers including those from the United States, subject to individual states’ acceptance of proof of vaccinations, recovery from Covid, or a negative test result.
The move is expected to help expedite a recovery in the travel sector.
“The usage of vaccination certificates should be based on the latest scientific evidence and the current epidemiological situation,“ the group said in a communiqué following the meeting.
The group, which included U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, UK Health Minister Matt Hancock, and German Bundesgesundheitsminister Jans Spahn and their peers from Canada, France, Italy, and Japan, said they were committed to working “towards a process of mutual acceptance of Covid-19 certificates.”
The group said that international standards and recommended practices must be set “for the creation, use and mutual recognition of testing and vaccination certificates… that rely on safe, effective and rigorously reviewed vaccines”.
The agreement was reached after a two-day summit in Oxford that was part of the G7 meeting.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
