UK initiative disclosed today by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps

Britain has joined France in requiring a digital COVID-19 vaccine passport to travel.

This new requirement comes as the pace gathers to restart travel in Europe. Britain is currently working on its digital COVID-19 vaccine passport, which was disclosed today by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

The British COVID-19 vaccine passport is based on an existing National Health Service (NHS) app, which will be adapted to help travelers prove that they have been vaccinated or tested negative for the virus. The announcement comes a day after France started to trial short flights with a tracing app updated to host records of shots and tests, on short flights.

France’s Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari reported yesterday that the country’s fledgling vaccine passport, which already has about 15 million users as a COVID-tracing app, is being deployed on services between Paris and the Mediterranean island of Corsica. The trial will be extended to flights by Air France to overseas territories next week and then to some neighbouring countries.

Confirmation of Britain’s use of digital COVID-19 vaccine passport

 “In terms of vaccine certification, I can confirm we are working on an NHS application,” Shapps told Sky News.

“It will be the NHS app that is used for people when they book appointments with the NHS and so on,” he explained.

Vaccine passports are emerging as a key plank of efforts to jump-start European tourism in time for the summer peak. Britain had previously said that such a move is under consideration ahead of a planned reopening on May 17, while the European Union aims to introduce digital passes by June after governments reached a deal on technical standards earlier his month.

In virtual talks today, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and her Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang discussed the use of vaccine certificates as a way to boost travel. In a German government statement released to the media the two leaders also discussed working together to ease the impact of the pandemic.

While Britain needs to remain cautious and protect the gains of its vaccine rollout, current data “does continue to look good” for reopening travel, Shapps said. The British Transport Minister told Times Radio that he will chair a meeting of Britain’s G-7 counterparts next week to discuss international co-ordination on the recognition of vaccine passports.

Greece have started easing travel restrictions

Within Europe, Greece has already started easing travel with some countries including its fellow EU members with a full lifting of restrictions for international tourists set for May 15. Britain, which along with Germany is the biggest source of visitors to Mediterranean sun spots, is set to announce a Green List of countries to which leisure travel will be permitted early next month.

Spanish Tourism Minister Fernando Valdes Verelst told The Sun newspaper earlier today that Britons will be allowed back in from June once an agreement on mutual recognition of vaccine passports is in place. Shapps said he couldn’t comment specifically on Spain before May’s planned announcements.

Didier Reynders, the EU’s justice commissioner, said in a speech to the Parliament that lawmakers should move quickly to allow travel across the bloc to resume for summer, warning against rigid rules for vaccine passes or delays to gauge the impact of jabs on new COVID variants.