VACCINE PASSPORT

VACCINE PASSPORT

Subject : Current Events

Context : Any “Covid passport” scheme to prove people in England are safe to attend mass-audience events would be “time-limited”, the government said.

Concept :

Vaccine Passports:

• A vaccine passport is an e-certificate that stores and records jabs and Covid-19 test status.
• It can be kept in a smartphone app or in other digital formats.
• Its contents can be flashed at security checkpoints when people travel across borders.
• The idea is modelled on the proof of vaccination that several countries required even before the pandemic.
• Travellers from many African countries to the USA or India are required to submit proof that they have been vaccinated against diseases such as yellow fever.
• In February 2021, Israel became the first country to introduce a certification system that allows those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to access certain facilities and events.

Function of Vaccine Passports:

• Will digitise vaccination records across countries.
• Supposed to function as proof that the holder has been vaccinated against Covid-19 and is, therefore, safe.

Potential Beneficiary of the Vaccine Passports:

• The primary benefit will be to the tourism and the hospitality industries, which are both seen as being at the heart of Covid-19 spread and are the worst hit by the pandemic.
• The international air travel, which suffered massively because of the outbreak.
• Several associations and non-profits have been issuing their own versions for international travel:
• IATA Travel Pass: The global trade body representing airlines (The International Air Transport Association) is developing an app called IATA Travel Pass that will provide airlines and other aviation industry stakeholders with a common platform to check for the proof of vaccination and its validity.
• CommonPass: Non-profit Commons Project has been trying out an app called CommonPass, which contains a passenger’s vaccination record.