BEIJING: A Chinese expert from the World Health Organization (WHO) Ethics and Covid-19 Working Group warned on Tuesday that it is too early for Europe to issue vaccine passports to allow residents to move freely between countries given the still grave epidemic situation and suggested that WHO take the lead on the vaccine passport issue to set up standards and countries can issue the passports under the WHO guidance based on the scientific evidence.
Allowing vaccinated travelers to move unconditionally would bring about huge risks when there is a lack of scientific evidence and a sufficient vaccination rate to support the move at the moment on the continent, Lei Ruipeng, an expert form the School of Philosophy and Center for Bioethics at the Wuhan-based Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and member of the WHO Ethics and Covid-19 Working Group, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.