Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Coronavirus: Europe in vaccine race to save summer

Coronavirus: Europe in vaccine race to save summer

Europe could be on the brink of a roaring twenties-style summer to remember, with budget airline flights packed and beachside bars brim-full of happy tourists.

Or, it faces another gloomy holiday season of travel restrictions, quarantine rules and a locked-down leisure industry.

In a few weeks from now we will know which it is to be - but the policy decisions which will shape the outcome are already being taken.

One big question is whether EU member states will be content to leave decision-making to the European Commission in Brussels - which has bungled the vaccine-buying programme - or simply take matters into their own hands.

Greece, for example, has already struck a deal to welcome tourists from Israel if they have a vaccine passport.

And Cyprus has said it will welcome British tourists from 1 May, as long as they have had two doses of any vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The Director-General of the Cyprus Hotels Association, Philokypros Roussonides, told the BBC: "We are really delighted with this development. It's going to be really effective and very good for airlines to schedule their flights. Cyprus is traditionally a very popular destination for British tourists."

Larnaca, Cyprus in July 2020. Hotels hope for a much better summer this year

Tourism jobs at stake


What is at stake here is not just the issue of whether wealthy northern Europeans get to enjoy a beer or an ice cream on the beach.

Tourism is big business, providing 27m jobs in Europe, and generating around 10% of the EU's GDP, when you take into account the other sectors which depend on it.

The economies of countries like Greece, Spain and Italy cannot recover until the tourist industry is reopened.

The GDP of the Balearic Islands - which include Majorca - fell by 27% last year. If a second summer season is lost to Covid-19 the consequences will be disastrous.

A tourism official in Majorca described the situation as "unsustainable" and said that if tourists were not allowed to return, many local business would disappear.

Saving the summer depends on two Europe-wide problems: getting people vaccinated and then agreeing rules about whether or not the right to travel should be linked to your vaccination status.

The chief economist of the Bank of Spain, Oscar Arce, told the Spanish newspaper El País: "If the vaccination levels are high in June, the tourist season will be saved. But if it's delayed to the end of the summer the economy will suffer a great deal. In those three months of radical uncertainty we have a lot at stake."

Slow vaccine rollout


So far at least the omens are not good.

AstraZeneca was criticised by the EU for failing to meet delivery targets

By the end of this week only 4.96% of Belgians and 5.5% of Germans have had at least one vaccine dose.

The Politico news service produced a fascinating calculation this week, showing that if the vaccination rollout continues at the current rate, Belgium won't reach the threshold of protecting 70% of its population until July 2023.

The date calculated for Germany was September 2022.

That would suggest we should be asking about the holiday prospects for next year or the year after - not this July or August.

Now of course the Belgian and German governments - and the European Commission - would argue that the rollout is going to gather pace as supplies improve and new vaccines are approved. And so it might.

But what those figures show is that the vaccination programme so far in the EU has been a disaster. Less than 10% of the EU population has been vaccinated so far, against 31% in the UK and 52% in Israel.


The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, admitted last month that the EU was "not where it wanted to be" on vaccinations. But German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz was widely reported to have summed things up more succinctly, telling a meeting that the EU rollout was a "total" horror show (using ruder word than "horror").

The slow vaccine rollout has been a political embarrassment for the European Commission, which took over responsibility from individual member states and then fell far behind other countries like the United States and Israel.

It cannot afford a second failure on vaccine passports, but so far the signs are not encouraging.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested that the technical work on the issue - what sort of information a passport should show and how it might be collected and stored - could be complete in three months.

But the problems with vaccine passports are political and ethical, rather than technical.

Mrs Merkel said it was not the EU's intention that only people with vaccine passports should be allowed to travel, adding "absolutely no political decisions have been made about that yet".

Discrimination fears


Some countries including France, where as many as 40% of adults may refuse a vaccination, are uncomfortable with creating rights for those who have had the jab - rights which are not available to those who have not.

Spain, desperate to get tourism moving again, has already said it won't restrict the right of entry to travellers who have been inoculated.

But if Chancellor Merkel is right, and freedom of movement is not restricted to those who have a vaccine passport, then travellers may feel there is no point in carrying one.

Huge political decisions are looming for Europe - freedom of movement is one of the founding principles of the EU.

If those decisions are going to help save this summer then the time to take them is already running short.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×