A Vaccination Passport

 

Vaccination passports

Governments and the travel industry are seriously looking into developing vaccine passports, which would securely prove that a person has been inoculated, my colleague Tariro Mzezewa reports.

President Biden recently asked the government to “assess the feasibility” of producing a digital document to confirm vaccination, while the Danish government said yesterday that it would introduce a digital vaccination passport in the next few months. Some airlines are moving even more quickly. Etihad Airways and Emirates said that in a few weeks they would begin using a digital travel pass that would provide documentation that passengers had been vaccinated or tested for the coronavirus.

The challenge is creating a universal document or app that would protect users’ privacy and would be available to all, not just the wealthy or those with smartphones.

IBM has been developing its own “digital health pass,” built on blockchain technology, that can use temperature checks, test results and vaccine status to monitor people seeking access to sports stadiums, airplanes or workplaces. The World Economic Forum and a Swiss nonprofit group have been testing a digital health passport called CommonPass that would generate a QR code to show the authorities.

The concept of a vaccine passport isn’t really new. For decades, travelers to some countries have had to show proof of vaccination against yellow fever, rubella and cholera, among other diseases. And in the U.S. in the 1880s, in response to smallpox outbreaks, some public schools began requiring students and teachers to show vaccination cards.