Future Of Travel? After Israel, Malaysia, EU May Soon Have Its Own 'COVID Vaccine Passport'

For a little over a year now the world has come to a standstill and no one knows if and when we will go back to life as we knew it before COVID-19 stuck.

International borders continue to be sealed unlike ever in recent history and anyone who wants to travel has to go through several restrictions depending on the country of arrival.

Reuters

But the vaccine rollout may make life easier during international travel in the coming days.

What is a vaccine passport?

Around the world, there are talks about vaccine passports, which would enable holders of such documents to travel around without any restrictions.

One of the first countries to issue such a document was Israel, which by far is the country that has managed to vaccinate the highest percent of the population of any country has issued an app that shows the vaccination status of the individual.

AFP

The green pass holders get non-restricted access to gyms, hotels, theatres, and concerts. Indoor dining in restaurants and bars is due to be included in the green pass scheme next week.

AFP

This, however, is only for domestic use, but a similar document from Malaysia has become the first to be accepted in another country. The Immunitee Health Passport, the country¡¯s first health passport allowing tourists to be accepted into Singapore upon being verified and cleared.

This health passport system was developed with the aims to provide travellers with a digital record of the full testing and vaccination history, allowing for a smoother, more pleasant and quarantine-free experience when travelling amidst this COVID-19 pandemic.

AFP

The Immunitee Health Passport provides a clear system containing personal immunisation records as well as vaccine data, helping to verify the authenticity of COVID-19 tests and vaccines. This aids in the facilitation of clearance for travellers at border health checkpoints whilst ensuring that the medical data is kept secure throughout the entire blockchain process.

Governmental authorities or other organisations such as national healthcare facilities, immigration systems, hotels or universities would only be able to access the individual¡¯s information by scanning a secure QR code. This QR code can only be unlocked using a private ¡°key¡± that belongs to the user and contains all the pertinent testing and vaccination information about that person.

AFP

The European Union is also talking about a vaccine 'green pass' which would allow people to gradually move safely in the European Union or abroad -- for work or tourism.

Tourist-dependent countries, such as Greece, and airline lobby groups want the document to serve as a "vaccine passport", allowing immunised people to avoid tests or quarantine when travelling.

We'll present this month a legislative proposal for a Digital Green Pass. The aim is to provide:

?Proof that a person has been vaccinated
?Results of tests for those who couldn¡¯t get a vaccine yet
?Info on COVID19 recovery

It will respect data protection, security & privacy

¡ª Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 1, 2021

But most EU countries, led by France and Germany, believe that this is premature while vaccinations are available only to a small fraction of the population, and all the currently approved vaccines require two injections for immunisation.