As someone who has my yellow vaccine passport from the WHO because I travel to South America, I disagree with this sentiment. I view this move by the EU more akin to TSA than the yellow fever vaccine. I believe it will turn into strictly an annoyance to travelers. The premise of TSA was straightforward response to a bad thing that occurred and turned into a useless beast and these programs appear to have the same fingerprints. For example, what is different now than before when we didn't require proof of seasonal flu shot (or any vaccine for that matter)? Are we admitting this was a mistake? If so, then why just COVID? Add MMR, DTaP, and seasonal flu to the list. Is this a temporary program until COVID-19 is sufficiently vaccinated against? If so, why is this not the first thing mentioned? What about new variants of the disease? Will we need booster shots every year? If so, then we've already significantly diverged from the yellow fever program. If this is only COVID-19, then why even bother with the program? Inevitably, I believe the program will turn into TSA and have scope creep and will never get abolished. They will continue explaining the need for their existence to keep their jobs at the detriment to only travelers. The only way I could get behind any such program is a clear end date written into law.
