France, Spain working on ‘vaccine passports’

The announcements came a day after China said it has already launched “digital vaccine certificates” that are being trialled domestically and will later be opened up for international travel.

France said on Wednesday it was working on launching Covid-19 vaccine passports, while Spain said it could start using such vaccination passes starting this May.

The Covid-19 variant that was first identified in the UK is more deadly than the original strain, according to a new study that confirms findings reported by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in January. (REUTERS)

The announcements came a day after China said it has already launched “digital vaccine certificates” that are being trialled domestically and will later be opened up for international travel.

Click here for full Covid-19 coverage

France announced the development after a meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday. On the same day, Spain’s tourism minister Reyes Maroto revealed a similar plan as Madrid gears up to host a tourism fair called FITUR. “We could be in a position to start implementing the digital passport (when FITUR starts on May 19),” she said.

UK variant more deadly, confirms new study

The Covid-19 variant that was first identified in the UK is more deadly than the original strain, according to a new study that confirms findings reported by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in January.

For every death among patients infected with earlier versions of the coronavirus, there have been 1.64 fatalities in people who caught the new variant, according to research that tracked more than 100,000 cases.

The new study, published in the British Medical Journal, said individuals infected with the UK strain were 32% to 104% more likely to die than those who caught previously circulating variants, with the central estimate being 64%.