VACCINE PASSPORT
- April 5, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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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.