How would a COVID-19 vaccine passport work?

By Cristina Cotofana

As countries pick up the pace vaccinating their populations, governments are discussing introducing “vaccine passports” or “certificates”.

There are several options to certify one’s vaccination – for instance by taking a photo of a hardcopy vaccination certificate but it is thought this would increase the possibility of forgery, loss, damage, or theft. The most probable and discussed concept is a mobile app that shows one’s vaccination status. The app could also feature the results of the latest COVID test and perhaps other health information. For people without smartphones, paper versions could be used instead,

Advocates of vaccine certification argue that such a mechanism would speed up the return to “normal” life, encourage people to get vaccinated, better protect workers within the medical, service, travel, and hospitality industries, and allow countries to fully re-open their economies more quickly. Meanwhile, critics argue that COVID-19 “vaccine passports” could lead to inequality and discrimination, especially in lower-income countries where vaccines are less available. There are also concerns relating to the security of private personal and medical data and the prospect of various apps being developed by different countries.

The requirement to be vaccinated to enter a country is not new. Travelers can already record their vaccination status regarding yellow fever, meningitis and polio with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Certificate of Vaccination of Prophylaxis (aka a Yellow Card) which is an existing vaccine passport.

COVID-19 is different because it is happening on a vastly wider scale. In addition, the official position of the WHO is that national governments should not introduce the requirement of proof of COVID vaccination as a condition for international travel because this may limit the possibility of travel for citizens of countries with less access to vaccines.

However, a few businesses and organizations are currently working to create “vaccine passports”. One is the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that represents 290 airlines worldwide which is developing an app called Travel Pass. This would also allow passengers to check the health entry requirements for the countries they plan to visit and to find COVID testing centers. The IATA says 23 airlines are currently testing the Travel Pass app.

IBM is developing a Digital Health Pass that would “enable organizations to verify health credentials for employees, customers, and visitors entering their site based on criteria specified by the organization.” Meanwhile, the Commons Project Foundation, working with the World Economic Forum, has developed its own app for individuals – CommonPass. Other potential apps include the AOKpass, Passport for COVID, and the Corona Pass. These “vaccine passports” are being developed by both private companies and governments.

A lack of standardization would be a burden for everyone and another potential problem is that some countries and airlines may only accept certain apps resulting in travelers having to upload their vaccination records onto multiple apps.

The EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced that the EU would present a legislative proposal for a Digital Green Pass that would serve as proof of vaccination, a negative test result, or the presence of antibodies and this could be ready by June 2021. Denmark and Sweden have stated they want to develop vaccine passports for travel and countries that are well-known tourist destinations such as Greece, Spain, and Cyprus are also very interested.

The UK is considering using vaccine passports as are China and Japan. Israel is already using a “green pass” smartphone application that permits vaccinated individuals to access public venues.

The latest data available shows that nearly 1.5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered as of May 17, 2021. There are also vaccines being developed by other countries that have not yet been approved by WHO or the European Medicines Agency but which may be available in the future.