Japan To Issue COVID Vaccine Passport For Travelling Abroad From July
Japan has said it will make a vaccine passport available from next month for Japanese travellers, as governments around the world experiment with ways to relaunch tourism and business trips.
"We are preparing to issue a certificate of vaccination for those who need one... when they visit foreign countries," top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato told reporters.
Municipalities that are in charge of running a vaccination program domestically and keeping track of vaccination records will issue the personal passports in the form of paper documents, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said.
Paper-based certificate
The certificate will be paper-based rather than digital and will be issued by local governments from sometime next month, he said.
The certificate, to be issued by municipalities using the central government's records, will include the holder's name, birthdate, passport number, date of vaccination and the vaccine manufacturer in Japanese and English.
Applicants will be asked to fill out documents at local government locations until an electronic format is developed. The certificate will be issued free of charge.
EU working on digital passport
The European Union is working on a digital vaccine passport for this summer so it can welcome back badly needed tourists, and some EU countries plan to introduce certificates at the national level.?
The EU version will feature information on whether a person has been vaccinated, or had the virus, tested negative, and recovered.?Last month, Washington said it was also considering special documentation for vaccinated Americans who want to travel abroad.
Idea controversial in the US
But the idea is controversial in some places, with conservative US states like Florida and Texas rejecting the idea of vaccine travel documents as a violation of peoples' basic rights.In Japan, company officials have been keen for a vaccine document that would help reestablish business travel.
Japan's vaccine rollout started comparatively slowly, but has picked up pace in recent weeks. Just over six percent of the population is currently fully vaccinated.The country's borders are closed to almost all foreign arrivals, though the rules will be relaxed for the Olympic Games, which open in Tokyo on July 23.
