About Green Pass scheme
- The EU’s Digital Covid certificate, or ‘Green Pass,‘ comes into force, with the goal of facilitating free travel and remove the barriers on entry placed due to the pandemic.
- It is a digital proof that a person has either been vaccinated against Covid-19, or received a negative test result, or recovered from the viral infection. The document is valid across all EU countries.
- Information included: The certificate includes information such as name, date of birth, date of issuance, the name of the vaccine or the details of the negative test result or recovery from Covid-19.
- The certificate has a QR code which can be scanned and it is available in both digital and paper formats.
- Not mandatory: While the “green pass” is expected to make the experience of travel hassle-free for people by doing away with restrictions, it is not absolutely compulsory. The EU website states that the certificate will not be a “pre-condition to free movement, which is a fundamental right in the EU”.
- Approved vaccines: The list only includes four vaccines now—Vaxzevria (Oxford-AstraZeneca), Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech), Spikevax (Moderna) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
- When Green Pass scheme was launched, the policy did not even allow AstraZeneca’s Indian-manufactured vaccine, Covishield. Due to the immense pressure, 16 EU countries have now accepted Covishield.
