Ireland is only EU member that is not ready to introduce COVID Certificate from today
DUBLIN: When the Digital COVID Certificate goes into effect across the European Union today, Ireland will be the only member state that has not implemented it.
Ireland’s failure to accept the EU DCC (Digital COVID Certificate) is due to the recent cyber-attack on the HSE. Since all the basic data was lost in the ransomware attack, HSE and the Department of Health are now struggling to recover it.
Ireland is the only European country that has failed to implement the EU plan, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said in Brussels.
“Due to a cyber-attack in Ireland it was difficult to reach the goal to have all of the technical solutions in place before the 1st of July but for all the other member states we don’t have any concerns about the way to proceed,” Mr. Reynders explained.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health has confirmed 452 new cases of COVID-19 in the country. There are 44 people being treated in hospitals, 14 of them are in intensive care.
The Digital COVID Certificate is envisioned by the EU as a secure framework to allow travel across the European Union. DCC holders will be able to travel freely across the EU, with no quarantine or COVID testing required. It remains to be seen whether the non-implementation of the certificate will have an impact on Irish summer holidays. Taoiseach Micheál Martin recently stated that the Government hopes to implement the DCC in Ireland by July 19.
Uncertainty over Covishield
At the same time, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet clarified whether Indian vaccine Covishield will be included in the EU vaccine passport.
European Union Ambassador to India, Ugo Astuto, on Tuesday confirmed that there is no ban on India’s Covishield vaccine and that it will be accepted once the EMA receives an approval request. However, the application process may take longer.
Unless there is Indian Government’s intervention, anyone who has been fully vaccinated with Covishield will not be able to travel to Europe during the Pandemic until it is approved.
Now that the ‘Green Pass’ has not yet been implemented, it may be possible to reach Ireland without any problems. But there has been no official announcement about this.
The Government of India has initiated immediate efforts to resolve the DCC issue and related issues for Indians travelling to Europe.
RELATED NEWS:
Kindly click the link below to join WhatsApp group chat to get important news and breaking news from Irish Samachar
Comments are closed.