Joe Biden has asked to analyze a possible “vaccination passport” in the United States to facilitate the certification of inoculated people and travel.
A new term has entered the vocabulary of governments and those who work in the travel industry: the vaccination passport.
An executive order from US President Joe Biden aimed at curbing the pandemic asks government agencies to “Assess the feasibility” of linking COVID-19 vaccination certificates with other vaccination documents and making digital versions of them.
Denmark’s government said on Wednesday that in the next three to four months it will distribute a digital passport that will allow its citizens to prove they have been vaccinated.
Governments are not the only ones suggesting vaccination passports. Within a few weeks, Etihad Airways and Emirates will start using a digital travel pass, developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), to assist passengers with their travel plans and provide airlines and governments documents that prove they have been vaccinated or tested for COVID-19.
The challenge at the moment is to create a document or application that is accepted around the world, that protects privacy and that is affordable for anyone regardless of their economic level or if they have access to smartphones.
Here’s what we know about the current status of digital vaccination passports.
What is a vaccination pass or passport?
A vaccination pass or passport is a document that proves that you have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Some versions will also allow people to prove that they have tested negative for coronavirus and can therefore travel more easily. The versions that airlines, industry groups, nonprofits, and tech companies are currently developing will be something you can open on your mobile phone as an app or as part of your digital wallet.
“It is about trying to digitize a process that is already being carried out today and turn it into something more harmonious and simple, that makes it easier for people to travel from one country to another without having to show different papers in each country or different documents at each different checkpoint”Said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Airports, Passengers, Cargo and Security. Careen has been leading the IATA travel pass initiative.
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British Airways announced that it will begin testing a new travel health app, VeriFLY, with customers who can travel between London and the United States.
IATA is one of several organizations that have been working for years to find digital solutions that simplify the travel credentialing process; During the pandemic, these groups have focused on including vaccination status. The idea is that if you have all the pertinent information on your phone, it will save a significant amount of time.
In addition to IATA, IBM has been developing its own Digital Health Pass (digital health pass), which would give individuals the ability to present proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter public establishments, such as sports stadiums, airplanes, universities or workplaces. This pass, based on IBM’s blockchain technology, can use multiple types of data, including temperature checks, virus exposure notifications, test results, and vaccination status. The World Economic Forum and The Commons Project Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization, have been testing a digital health passport called CommonPass, which would allow travelers to access testing or vaccination information. The pass would generate a QR code that would be shown to authorities.
Why would you need a vaccination pass or passport?
As more people are inoculated, there will likely be aspects of public life in which only people who have been vaccinated will be able to participate. For example, the LV Super Bowl, which was held this Sunday in Tampa, Florida, where a significant portion of the attendees were health workers who have received the vaccine. (IATA’s Careen said sports organizations, concert venues and tourism agencies have contacted to receive technology support for the IDs.)
For international travel, the government and health authorities will need to know if you have been vaccinated or tested negative for the virus. Many countries already require documents showing a negative test result in order to enter. The passes could be essential to reopen the tourism industry, said Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary general of the World Tourism Organization (a specialized agency of the United Nations).
“A key element that is vital for the restart of tourism is the regularity and harmonization of the rules and protocols related to international travel”, noted in an email. “This can be offered evidence of vaccination through the coordinated introduction of what we might call ‘health passports’, for example. These passports can also eliminate the need to be quarantined upon arrival, a policy that also hampers the return of international tourism.
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The new “passport” will be complementary to those issued by each country (Shutterstock.com)
Dakota Gruener, CEO of ID2020, a global public-private partnership, said there are three possible paths for digital credentialing in response to the coronavirus. The first, which is largely out of the question, is the creation of immunization certificates, which are documents that would show that people have developed some degree of immunity to the virus. The second is be able to prove that you have tested negative for the virus. The third is the power to show that you have been vaccinated. Experts agree that the latter two are the most important for getting the travel industry back on track.
Has this been done before?
Having to prove that you have been vaccinated in order to participate in activities or enter certain countries is not a new concept. For decades, people traveling to some countries have had to prove that they have been vaccinated against diseases such as yellow fever, rubella, and cholera. Often, after being vaccinated, travelers receive a “yellow card” signed and stamped, known as an international certificate of vaccination or prophylaxis, which is still recommended to be carried on relevant trips by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English) of the United States.
“All people who have traveled internationally to countries that require vaccination against malaria, diphtheria and other diseases have had yellow cards,” said Brian Behlendorf, CEO of the Linux Foundation Public Health, a technology-focused organization that helps public health authorities combat COVID-19 around the world. It focuses on helping projects, communities, and companies build open source technology. “Parents with children in public schools have had to prove that their children are vaccinated. This is not something new ”.
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The vaccination passport would be the way to unify the requirements to travel between countries
However, a big difference between the yellow card of past years and what is being created now is the digital component, that comes with new concerns about privacy and accessibility. Linux Foundation is working in partnership with the COVID-19 Credential Initiative, a collective of more than 300 people from five continents to help develop universal standards for vaccination credential applications that make them accessible and equitable. This foundation also works with IBM and CommonPass.
“As these things are distributed, it is important that citizens ask governments and airlines: how can we make this very simple so that I have a vaccination record to book a flight or hotel and also can I use it to do other things? ”Behlendorf said. “It should work like email. If not, you have to mobilize to protest ”.
What are the objections to vaccination passports?
In a world where more than 1 billion people cannot prove their identity because they do not have a passport, birth certificate, driver’s license or national identification cards, digital documents showing vaccination status can increase inequality and risk by leaving many people behind. That unease has been at the center of Gruener’s work.
“Long before COVID, we were already working at the intersection of digital credentials and immunization,” he said. “It will be years before vaccines are universally available globally and therefore widespread testing is going to continue and must continue in tandem with vaccination to allow for a safe and equitable return to travel and other public activities.” .
For those without a smartphone, the industry says it will accept paper testing, but even that needs to be standardized.
In addition, there are concerns about privacy and the data that is shared.
“There are ways this could be done the right way or terribly wrong, and the wrong ways could lead to a technological dystopia,” said Jenny Wanger, director of programs at Linux Foundation, adding that it is important that the technological aspects of the development of these applications are done in an open way and do not end up under the exclusive control of any government or company. The technology should be open source and accessible to all technologists, no matter who they are or where they are, Wanger and others said.
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Denmark is the first country to prepare a digital passport for those vaccinated against the coronavirus