Green Covid passport

I do like the name Sputnik, sounds like it could be a ,"trippy" vax.
Not signing up for anything here although they might put us on the list fast because of our ages?
I am not getting a vax until more reasheach comes in or if I am forced physically to do so against my will.
It was creepy enough getting those 2 PCR tests, one was a total waste and who knows how safe they are?
I don't plan on living forever but I am not volunteering in a social experiment either.
My sister had 2 does of Moderna but she is tough, then again it could be she will just dropped over one day soon and they will blame something other then a jab for her demise.
I do not trust doctors much and never trust any gov. to have my best interests at heart.
It's terrible how some people have little choice in their own health now.
Pick your poison?

cdw057 wrote:

Will be an interesting development (of which I believe it will end well). Hungary wants apparently to issue a green certificate with regards to Covid (that is good, but if only valid in Hungary not too useful). I trust this will merge with a EU recognition.
I am personally waiting with my wife for a letter or call from our GP (ideally Pfizer or Moderna, Sputnik is fine as well , Astra as another option, J&J patience is needed I would think,
I think there will be a long waiting list for the first two, considering the relations with Russia Sputnik recognition will have some delay (but fine for me).

Curious to your opinion, I think most will go for Pfizer or Moderna

It is said that all registered can have their first vaccine before Easter, (Chinese vaccine a no, Astra a soft no, Sputnik (because of non-recognition by EU), a very soft no, but in practice I think a yes,

First thing, we want to be able to go to restaurants, theater, .... within Hungary, but travelling abroad (even outside EU) is also a topic and accepting Hungarian Green is important (still I think in a few months time this will merge with EU).

Just a suggestion. 

It might be better to put this under the existing COVID19 thread - COVID-19 and expatriation in Hungary. 

If it's one place, it makes it easier to find all related posts.

I've had one dose of the Pfizer vax, my wife has had two, our daughter has had 2 of the AZ vax.  Both she and my daughter are healthcare professionals; they are totally bemused by what the politicians are playing at over the AZ vax.  Nobody is going to force anybody to take any vaccine; my wife and daughter will not administer it to anybody who doesn't want it and they ask every single time they administer it.

Indeed it might be better under the Covid thread, I thought about that, but to me the green Passport might become an interesting (sub) topic as well, clearly related to Covid, but ...

I would not mind at all if it is moved.

cdw057 wrote:

Indeed it might be better under the Covid thread, I thought about that, but to me the green Passport might become an interesting (sub) topic as well, clearly related to Covid, but ...

I would not mind at all if it is moved.

BTW, there's a link in the COVID thread to a Euronews article on the passports.

cdw057 wrote:

Chinese vaccine a no

I don't think it's riskier than any of the western vaccines that have received emergency approval. Even if it's not as effective as the latter, its sooner availability in larger quantities is a huge plus. China and Orban Viktor have too much to win/lose to take chances pushing something significantly inferior. My only concern is its inclusion in the EU green certificate, but I'm fine without it, in the near future I'd like to travel to SE-Asia where it will be recognized.

cdw057 wrote:

Indeed it might be better under the Covid thread, I thought about that, but to me the green Passport might become an interesting (sub) topic as well, clearly related to Covid, but ...

I would not mind at all if it is moved.

Unfortunately there's no mechanism available to us for combining or transferring to another thread.  You have to do it manually by cutting and pasting links into each thread to link them together.   The moderators ought to be able to do it.  Maybe they can.  No idea.  But I am sure they will tell us.

Today's Daily Mail -- yes, I know -- says the EU will be permitting vaccinated Americans entry, announcement coming tomorrow Wednesday.

If so, is it likely Hungary will opt out? Or is the general situation still restrictive enough that it's not a great summer for a visit even if possible?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … urope.html

Out of interest.  The UK now has a Covid passport; it's part of the NHS app on our smartphones.  You select the Travel section and it gives you a screen with a QR code and all your covid vaccination information.  It can either be scanned, or downloaded as a pdf, or downloaded and shared to another smart device.  Really quite simple, I'm surprised as the UK does not have a reputation for getting this kind of thing right the first time.

In America each state has a vaccination registry, so it is possible to get an official record in addition to the simple CDC card. Problem is, each state has different record formats so it's hard to consolidate into a single mobile passport.

Cynic wrote:

Out of interest.  The UK now has a Covid passport; it's part of the NHS app on our smartphones.  You select the Travel section and it gives you a screen with a QR code and all your covid vaccination information.  It can either be scanned, or downloaded as a pdf, or downloaded and shared to another smart device.  Really quite simple, I'm surprised as the UK does not have a reputation for getting this kind of thing right the first time.

Yes, really surprising they are getting it right in the UK.  We've had so many IT based screw ups in Blighty it makes one wonder.   Remember back to the passports mess, the social benefits system and further back, scrapping of Nimrod etc.

Having seen the COVID19 and healthcare response in other places (i.e. Hungary) I think the NHS has actually proved itself as a massive asset.  It's like a healthcare army.   I don't think any EU country has such a system that can deploy huge resources in that way.

Here, it's patchy at best and of course the foreigners vaccination response has been deplorable.  The government's use of the Chinese and Russian vaccines is proving to be a fizzle not a bang.

zif wrote:

Today's Daily Mail -- yes, I know -- says the EU will be permitting vaccinated Americans entry, announcement coming tomorrow Wednesday.

If so, is it likely Hungary will opt out? Or is the general situation still restrictive enough that it's not a great summer for a visit even if possible?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … urope.html

Article seems to suggest all EU countries will agree to open their borders and no quarantine.  Hungary is doing particularly badly as we all know.   I really want to get to the UK and I have visitors wanting to come here from the UK.  There is massive demand for it all to start working again.

BTW, one of my colleagues managed to come from the USA (Chicago) to Bulgaria (Sofia).   Said it was a  difficult journey.   Had several false starts over paperwork issues with rebooking needed and eventually avoided transit in the UK but surprisingly transited easily via Istanbul!  That person has been fully vaccinated and had all the documentation.  Still took well over 24h to arrive in-country.

Yes, Bulgaria is now open to vaccinated Americans, but I've seen no confirmation yet that the white CDC card is enough.

And yes if you transit through the UK you still need a neg Covid test beforehand. Arranging flights takes a lot of care, and rules could change the next day.

The EU did in fact adopt a policy today Wednesday allowing vaccinated non-EU travellers entry but it's not binding and it remains up to individual states whether and how and when to implement it.

zif wrote:

Yes, Bulgaria is now open to vaccinated Americans, but I've seen no confirmation yet that the white CDC card is enough.

And yes if you transit through the UK you still need a neg Covid test beforehand. Arranging flights takes a lot of care, and rules could change the next day.

Yes, CDC card alone was not enough but still helpful. 

it was necessary to have PCR tests to get on the plane in Chicago.  Moreover the test had to be valid for the entire journey.  So with stopovers and other flights in between, it was a tight timeframe.  There was a plan to overnight in the UK but the PCR test would have run out  by then requiring a new test in the UK.  So therefore a faster shorter layover route was needed and therefore Istanbul was far easier.

zif wrote:

The EU did in fact adopt a policy today Wednesday allowing vaccinated non-EU travellers entry but it's not binding and it remains up to individual states whether and how and when to implement it.

The bigger problem (at least for me) is avoiding quarantine and the two PCR tests going the other way (HU to UK).    The costs are awful - means 4 x tests currently - for round trip.  One here, two in quarantine in UK and one to come back.  It also means 10 days there in quarantine there and 10 days here.  That's just not acceptable for a short trip.  It would be useful to not quarantine coming back into HU but still doable. Quarantine in the UK seems unnecessary as well over 36 million people have been vaccinated (more than 1/2 the population).

UK government is getting a lot of criticism for the slow pace of classification of country risk.   I think people are just fed up with it all - me included.   Decision will be political rather than health related.