COVID-19 “Green Pass”: a Lesson on the Proportionality Principle from Galicia

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most dramatic pandemic of the new millennium, and extraordinary measures concerning with health, law and policy are required around the world. One of these is without doubts the “green pass”, officially known in the European Union (EU) as EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC). Initially conceived as a tool for overcoming the lockdown restrictions, it has unexpectedly turned into a means of discrimination between pass holders and non-holders, thus increasing social tension at the expense of solidarity and brotherhood. Here, we analyze in depth the dark sides of the “green pass” in the light of the European and international legislation and of the ongoing pandemic scenario.

A Survey on Undergraduate Medical Students’ Perception of COVID-19 Vaccination

“…After the exclusion of this questionnaire, the rate of unanswered questions (among those that provided the option of not answering) was very low, ranging from 1.7-2.5% for the demographic and health questions; no respondent ticked 0 to all the Likert questions. The students' mean age was 22.3 years (range [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Table 1 shows the participants' sociodemographic characteristics.…”

“…The motivation to be vaccinated in order to obtain the "green pass", officially known in the European Union as the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC), deserves particular consideration. This certification, which has also been adopted by other countries [34,35], attests that the subject has been vaccinated against COVID-19 or has tested negative to the SARS-CoV-2 virus [36,37]; thus, it allows the holder to engage in a very wide variety of work activities and to access a growing list of places, gatherings, means of transport and cultural and sports events. However, persons who are exempted from the vaccination campaign because of medical conditions that have been certified in accordance with the criteria defined by the Ministry of Health are not required to possess a green pass.…”

Accelerated Digitalization of the Epidemiological Measures: Overcoming the Technological and Process Complexities of Establishing the EU Digital COVID Certificate in Slovenia

“…Regardless of positive experiences in some areas, the efficacy of the DCC and related approaches to limit the spread of COVID-19 infections will need to be meticulously documented, analysed, and objectively evaluated [ 78 , 79 ]. Besides the epidemiological impacts, ethical concerns, professional and scientific dilemmas, and global technological feasibility, wider implications of the DCC and similar socio-technical measures are definitely the issues which should be addressed as a matter of priority in future research in this field [ 80 , 81 , 82 ].…”