EU to ease rules on Covid pass to remove hurdle for vax trials

On Thursday, the European Commission proposed a change to the rules regarding the Covid-19 certificate that would allow vaccine study participants to obtain a valid pass despite receiving unapproved shots.

The move was raised by BioNTech in Germany and Hipra in Spain on the difficulty of enrolling volunteers in the Covid-19 vaccine trial because participants may face restrictions on access to public spaces and travel. It follows the concerns.

The rule change will extend the validity of the EU Covid Pass by one year until the end of June 2023, demonstrating that EU countries can issue vaccine certificates to study participants. Some countries have already done so.

However, this adjustment is insufficient to require EU countries to recognize these exceptional vaccine certificates when issued by other states within the block. As a result, when traveling to unions in 27 countries, participants are treated as completely unvaccinated and may face restrictions.

A spokesman for the EU Commission said he hopes EU countries will recognize the Covid Pass issued to test participants in other countries within the block.

This proposal must be adopted by EU lawmakers and the government.

In many EU countries, a joint vaccination certificate is required to enter restaurants, gyms and cinemas. They are also needed to move across the block.

“The pharmaceutical company has informed DE (Germany) that many participants will either end clinical trials or refrain from participating because they cannot maintain vaccination at certain booster doses that have not yet been approved.” Said the EU document with minutes. EU Health Experts Meeting on January 5th.

EU officials said the company expressing concern was BioNTech, which is testing booster doses targeting alpha and delta variants of coronavirus in Germany and other countries.

BioNTech began clinical trials last week with Pfizer, a US partner for vaccines adapted to Omicron. These tests are conducted in the United States.

BioNTech said it welcomes changes that will allow test participants to have a valid Covid certificate.

A spokeswoman said the Spanish pharmaceutical company Hipra raised similar concerns as BioNTech. The company plans to recruit 3,000 volunteers in Europe during the final stages of clinical trials of the vaccine. Reuters