Staff at Rome’s most ancient trattoria took a step into the future yesterday by scanning codes on the phones of diners at the door as Italy introduced tough rules on vaccine passports.
Visitors asking for a table indoors at La Campana, which claims to have opened in 1518, were asked to show a government-issued QR code, either on their phone or on paper, to prove that they had recovered from Covid, had received at least one vaccine jab or had tested negative within 48 hours.
Using an app, one employee scanned diners’ codes and waited for a green tick to appear. The app also listed the name of the diner.
It is the most comprehensive passport scheme to date in a big European country. France will widen its more limited programme on Monday.
“We are doing it because we must, but to ensure people aren’t using borrowed codes we need to ask for ID too to check against the name the app gives us, and that is an embarrassing invasion of privacy,” Marina Trancassini, the manager at La Campana, said.
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Mario Draghi, the prime minister, has introduced the “green pass” as the Delta variant spread in Italy. More than 6,000 cases were recorded yesterday.
The pass is now required for entry to museums, gyms, theatres, swimming pools and indoor areas of cafés and restaurants. Any violators face fines of up to €1,000 (£850) and restaurants can be shut for up to ten days if caught letting in diners without passes three times.
At the Colosseum as the queue was slowed by code-scanning, only two people out of 5,000 were turned away because they had forgotten their passes at their hotel.
“I used our German app. It was easy and I felt safer once I got in,” said Celine Georg, 20, from near Frankfurt.
“They are being vigilant, which is good,” Vladimir Popici, an advertising agency art director from Romania, said.
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With about 50 million of Italy’s 60 million residents now in possession of the certification, the government will step up its rollout on September 1, requiring it for long-distance train travel and flights.
There have been protests about the use of the pass, with 3,000 marching in Turin on Thursday, but opposition has paled in comparison with France, where 200,000 are expected to attend more than 100 protest rallies today.
The French pass is already required for access to public places with a capacity of 50 people, such as museums and cinemas. It will become necessary to access restaurants, bars, cafés and intercity trains and coaches.
During clashes with police last weekend, 72 people were arrested and there are now fears of further violence. Thousands of additional police officers are being deployed in Paris, where 10,000 demonstrators are expected.
The pass, approved by France’s Constitution Council this week, faces strong opposition from some sections of the population, notably poorer provincial residents and members of the yellow-vest movement that protested against President Macron’s perceived bias in favour of the rich in 2018 and 2019.
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Staff at chemists and vaccine centres have said they are facing verbal and sometimes physical abuse amid growing tensions over the vaccine rollout.
