What Is a Vaccine Passport? The Future of Travel, Explained

Modeled on the proof of vaccination that countries in Africa and India required even before the pandemic, a “vaccine passport” will require travelers to submit proof—whether through ID card or certification—that they have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

As mentioned above, Israel became the first country to introduce a certification system, but popular tourist destinations such as Thailand and Europe are moving closer to issuing their own vaccine certificates. According to Bloomberg, a panel of officials in the former has backed the proposal that is seen as a major milestone towards allowing the tourism-reliant nation to fully reopen to foreign visitors.

Individuals would be able to access their lab results and vaccination records, much like they do with their COVID-19 testing, and consent to have that information used to validate their COVID status. No other underlying personal health information is purported to be revealed, and the pertinent information regarding travel would be accessed through existing health data systems, national or local registries, or personal digital health records (like MyChart and AdvancedMD).

Scaled-up applications like CommonPass, according to its official website, “assesses the individual’s lab test results or vaccination records (i) from a trusted source, and (ii) satisfy the health screening requirements of the country they want to enter.” Using Israel as an example in this case, a person who has been vaccinated can download the app and show their “green pass” at security checkpoints or whenever they are asked to show it. 

In the event that someone has come down with the coronavirus, the app can also display proof that they’ve recovered from the disease, according to the MIT Technology Review.

In the U.S., the short answer is no. Outside of the ones issued by the Israeli government, there are several associations and nonprofits that have been issuing their own versions for international travel. The International Air Transport Association is developing an app called IATA Travel Pass that will provide airlines and other aviation industry stakeholders with a common platform to check for proof of vaccination and confirm its validity.

Commons Project, a nonprofit organization in New York and Geneva, Switzerland, is behind the aforementioned CommonPass, which contains a passenger’s vaccination record and, according to The Washington Post, has already been tested on select flights out of New York, London, and Hong Kong with JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, and other airlines since December. Before that, trials were conducted via United and Cathay Pacific flights to the aforementioned areas plus Singapore.

Simply put, we live in a world where racism and classism are inescapable and influence markets and industries everywhere. The World Health Organization also noted such as it batted against the introduction of vaccination proofs, writing:

“At the present time, it is WHO’s position that national authorities and conveyance operators should not introduce requirements of proof of COVID-19 vaccinations for international travel as a condition for departure or entry, given that there are still critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission.

“In addition, considering that there is a limited availability of vaccines, preferential vaccination of travellers could result in inadequate supplies of vaccines for priority populations considered at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.”

Add to that privacy concerns due to the increase of hacking on the internet, plus the ethical issues about who would get left behind in general, and a vaccine passport could create more problems. Discrimination for impoverished or “minority” communities could increase with the introduction of a vaccine passport, while young adults and children could become low priority for vaccines and thereby be ineligible to travel. 

Vaccine passports could also create a false sense of safety among those who feel that vaccination means that they are no longer at risk for getting or spreading the infection. It is still not verifiable whether vaccinated people can contract an asymptomatic case of COVID-19 and transmit the virus, thereby increasing infection rates wherever they may travel. Last, but certainly not least, concerns around mutations of the virus and the possible need for multiple vaccines could complicate passports.

A digital certificate would enable countries and citizens to prove themselves to be “safe” and to bypass mandatory quarantine requirements. For example, visitors to New York City are said to be under quarantine for 10 days, but with a vaccine passport, one would ideally no longer have to follow such strict restrictions. If vaccine passports become a standard and widely accepted practice, then the need to carry physical documentation would end, granting full credibility to the online certification.

For now, we will have to wait and see what the outcome is internationally, and as legislation builds on the idea of vaccine passports, the feeling is that change will come sooner than later.