Vaccine passports: Everything you need to know about this vaccination certification system

Vaccine passport: A certification system to allow access to certain events and facilities to those who had received vaccinations against coronavirus was introduced in Israel last month, with it becoming the first country to do so, according to a report in IE. The vaccination against COVID-19 has been touted to be the turning point, from where things will begin going back to normal. Accordingly, Israel’s concept of “vaccine passport” is meant to allow vaccinated citizens access to public facilities like hotels, gyms and restaurants within the country. So, what exactly are these passports? Check out here!

Vaccine passports explained

Vaccine passports are based on the need for proof of necessary vaccinations which was required by several countries even before the pandemic struck. The US or India, for instance, required citizens from various African countries to submit proof of vaccination against yellow fever or other diseases. Most vaccine passports are digital documents meant to serve as proof that the citizen has been vaccinated against the virus. This would also aid in digitisation of the vaccination records across various countries.

However, while a few countries have begun accepting these documents as proof to allow holders to skip quarantine, there is no universally accepted version of a vaccine passport yet.

The various vaccine passports

Apart from the government of Israel, versions of vaccine passports are also being issued by several associations. Global trade body for the representation of airlines, the International Air Transport Association or the IATA, is working on an app for travel pass that would provide stakeholders in the aviation industry, including airlines, with a common platform to verify the proof of vaccination along with its validity. Meanwhile, Non-profit public trust Commons Project is trying an app containing the vaccination records of passengers.

Benefit of vaccine passports

The tourism as well as the hospitality industries would be the primary beneficiaries of such a system. These industries have been among the worst hit during the pandemic due to global lockdowns. However, since there is a lack of uniformity in the issuance of proof of vaccinations, implementing such a system would be a major challenge.