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COVID-19 CERTIFICATE

Should Switzerland abolish the Covid certificate?

Amid the dual impact of vaccination protection and the comparatively mild Omicron variant, some experts have called for the abolition of the Covid certificate.

Published: 20 January 2022 16:09 CET
A person has their Covid certificate checked.
The Covid certificate is now an ever-present part of life in Switzerland. When will it be phased out? Should Switzerland abolish the Covid certificate? Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

When originally expanded in September 2021, Switzerland’s Covid certificate requirement was given an expiry date of January 24th, 2022. 

EXPLAINED: How long will Switzerland keep the Covid certificate in place?

Since then, the deadline has been extended until at least March 31st, 2022 – and the government has not ruled out the possibility of further extensions. 

A legal expert from Zurich has however called for the Covid certificate to be wound back, due to the stable situation in the country’s hospitals. 

Felix Uhlmann, a professor of constitutional law who was previously in favour of expanding the Covid certificate, says it should be rolled back. 

“It is actually time to rethink the previous logic of measures,” Uhlmann told Switzerland’s NZZ newspaper. 

Uhlmann said the current development of the pandemic “did not justify such drastic restrictions on the unvaccinated”. 

Uhlmann however did not advocate for a complete removal of all measures, saying that more needed to be done to protect those in vulnerable groups, including a potential mandatory vaccination requirement for those aged over 60. 

READ MORE: Will Switzerland make the Covid vaccine compulsory?

Switzerland’s right-wing SVP, the country’s largest political party, has also called for the removal of the certificate privately, NZZ reports, although the party agreed on Wednesday to extend the certificate’s validity until the end of March. 

The United Kingdom for instance announced on Thursday that most Covid measures will be reduced by the end of January. 

‘The pandemic is not finished’

The Federal Council on Wednesday however reiterated its commitment to the certificate, saying it would wind back the certificate “as soon as the situation allows”. 

“We are in the fifth wave. We don’t yet know how it will develop,” Berset said. 

“Possibly – perhaps – we have passed the zenith of this wave. But we don’t know.

“The corona pandemic is not finished.”

READ MORE: Covid in Switzerland: How common are hospitalisations and deaths among the boosted?

Several experts agree with the government, saying that despite the promising current trends, the Covid certificate still plays and important role. 

Markus Schefer, a constitutional law expert, said removing the Covid certificate requirement now would be presumptuous. 

“If it turns out that the effects of an infection no longer justify the restrictions on individual freedom, then the obligation to obtain a certificate must be lifted.”

“At the moment, the further development seems to be wide open. And we don’t yet know what long-Covid consequences the omicron wave will have.”

Infectiologist Huldrych Günthard told Switzerland’s Watson newspaper that while he was optimistic “I don’t believe in quick fixes”. 

“We just haven’t gotten to the point yet to get rid of the certificate.”

Günthard noted that a major reason for the positive change is the greater proportion of vaccinated members of the population, in which the certificate plays a role. 

“The certificate is also intended to put some pressure on unvaccinated people to get vaccinated after all.”

At a referendum in November 62 percent of the Swiss populace voted in favour of the country’s Covid protections, including the current use of the Covid certificate. 

Member comments

  2. No democracy should coerce its citizens into taking a medical procedure. England has barely used Covid Certificates for this reason. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have used the certificates extensively as well as mask mandates and yet have had the same level of infections as England. Real world evidence shows that neither policy makes any difference. Look at France. Unfortunately governments have frightened their people and themselves into thinking they work. Yet we all know vaccines don’t stop transmission, they only protect the individual. Personally, I would recommend older people especially to get their vaccinations (I’ve had three) but mandating them or coercing people is not acceptable in a democracy.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

EU extends Covid travel certificates until 2023 but what does this mean for travellers?

The EU has announced that its Covid travel certificate will be extended until 2023. Claudia Delpero looks at what this mean if you have a trip planned this year.

Published: 29 June 2022 11:03 CEST
Updated: 4 July 2022 09:35 CEST
EU extends Covid travel certificates until 2023 but what does this mean for travellers?

Cleaning up the phone and thinking of getting rid of that Covid app? Just wait a minute. 

The European Union has decided to extend the use of EU Covid certificates by one year, until June 30th 2023. 

The European Commission first made the proposal in February as the virus, and the Omicron variant in particular, was continuing to spread in Europe. At that point it was “not possible to determine the impact of a possible increase in infections in the second half of 2022 or of the emergence of new variants,” the Commission said. 

Now tourism is taking off again, while Covid cases are on the rise in several European countries.

So the EU has taken action to ensure that travellers can continue using the so-called ‘digital green certificates’ in case new restrictions are put in place after their initial deadline of June 30th, 2022. 

What is the EU ‘digital green certificate’?

If you have travelled within the EU in the last year, you have probably already used it.

On 1st July 2021, EU countries started to introduce the ‘digital green certificate’, a Covid pass designed by the European Commission to facilitate travel between EU member states following months of restrictions.

It can be issued to EU citizens and residents who have been vaccinated against Covid, have tested negative or have recovered from the virus, as a proof of their health status. 

Although it’s called a certificate, it isn’t a separate document, it’s just a way of recognising all EU countries’ national health pass schemes.

It consists of a QR code displayed on a device or printed.

So if you live in an EU country, the QR code issued when you were vaccinated or tested can be scanned and recognised by all other EU countries – you can show the code either on a paper certificate or on your country’s health pass app eg TousAntiCovid if you’re in France or the green pass in Italy. 

Codes are recognised in all EU 27 member states, as well as in 40 non-EU countries that have joined the scheme, including the UK – full list here.

What does the extension of certificates mean? 

In practice, the legal extension of the EU Covid pass does not mean much if EU countries do not impose any restrictions.

It’s important to point out that each country within the EU decides on its own rules for entry – requiring proof of vaccination, negative tests etc so you should check with your country of destination.

All the EU certificate does is provide an easy way for countries to recognise each others’ certificates.

At present travel within the EU is fairly relaxed, with most countries only requiring negative tests for unvaccinated people, but the certificate will become more relevant again if countries impose new measures to curb the spread of the virus. 

According to the latest data by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, countries such as France, Portugal and parts of Italy and Austria are in the red again. 

The EU legislation on the certificate neither prescribes nor prohibits such measures, but makes sure that all certificate holders are treated in the same way in any participating country. 

The EU certificate can also be used for access to venues such as bars and restaurants if countries decided to re-impose health or vaccines passes on a domestic basis.

So nothing changes?

In fact, the legislation introduces some changes to the current certificates. These include the clarification that passes issued after vaccination should reflect all doses administered, regardless of the member state where the inoculation occurred. This followed complaints of certificates indicating an incorrect number of vaccine doses when these were received in different countries.

In addition, new rules allow the possibility to issue a certificate of recovery following an antigen test and extend the range of uthorised antigen tests to qualify for the green pass. 

To support the development and study of vaccines against Covid, it will also be possible to issue vaccination certificates to people participating in clinical trials.

At the insistence of the European Parliament, the Commission will have to publish an assessment of the situation by December 31st 2022 and propose to repeal or maintain the certificate accordingly. So, while it is extended for a year, the certificate could be discontinued earlier if it will no longer be consider necessary. 

The European parliament rapporteur, Spanish MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar, said: “The lack of coordination from EU governments on travel brought chaos and disruption to the lives of millions of Europeans that simply wanted to move freely and safely throughout the EU.

“We sincerely hope that the worst of the pandemic is far behind us and we do not want Covid certificates in place a day longer than necessary.”

Vaccination requirements for the certificate

An EU certificate can be issued to a person vaccinated with any type of vaccine, but many countries accept only EMA-approved vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Valneva and Janssen) – if you have been vaccinated with another vaccine, you should check the rules on the country you are travelling to.  

Certificates remain valid for 9 months (270) days following a complete vaccination cycle – so if you had your vaccine more than nine months ago you will need a booster in order to be considered fully vaccinated.

There is no requirement for a second booster, so if you have had a booster you remain ‘fully vaccinated’ even if your booster was administered more than 9 months ago. 

As of 1st March 2022, EU countries had issued almost 1.2 billion EU Covid certificates, of which 1.15 billion following vaccination, 511 million as a result of tests and 55 million after recovery from the virus. 

France, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Austria are the countries that have issued the largest number of EU Covid certificates. 

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