There are many instances where a vaccine passport is needed and it’s not just when traveling abroad. Concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters and even offices may eventually require them. In this article we will discuss what a vaccine passport is and why they may be necessary in order to continue with everyday activities.
Several companies and technology groups have begun to make apps or systems for people to upload the details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations. It can be used as credentials, like a ticket, that can help you get into places.
A new project called the Common Trust Network, started by Geneva’s nonprofit The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum, has partnered with over 60 airlines around the world. This project is working on a model for verifying individuals health status.
The app that we created has a lot of medical information. People can upload their Covid-19 test results or proof of vaccination and they will get a health certificate. The app will tell you what kind of pass you need for travel and it lists the requirements for the places where you are going to visit.
“Every time you cross a border, you can be tested for Covid. You cannot be vaccinated every time you cross a border,” Thomas Crampton, the chief marketing and communications officer at The Commons Project. He stressed the need for credentials that are simple and easy to transfer from one country to another.
Large tech companies are also doing this. IBM developed an app called Digital Health Pass. In it, they show people the requirements necessary to get into your work place. For example, a person might need a coronavirus test or a temperature check before they can get in. These credentials are stored in the mobile wallet.
In order to try to solve one problem, developers may now be challenged by other problems. There are privacy issues and different vaccines that work differently. The most important challenge is making sure that you do not have a disjointed implementation or mixed success with the previous applications such as contact tracing apps.
Google and Apple set aside their rivalry to help make this happen by developing a Bluetooth-based system for your phone to tell you if you had been exposed to someone with Covid-19. Several countries and governments created their own applications.
“I think where exposure notification ran into some challenges was more in the implementation choices,” said Jenny Wanger, lead of Linux Foundation Public Health. “Where each state had to go at it alone and so each state had to figure it out independently.”
To better coordinate this time, the Linux Foundation has partnered with Covid-19 Credentials Initiative which is a collective of more than 300 people representing dozens of organizations across five continents and also works with IBM and CommonPass to help develop universal standards for vaccine credential apps.
“If we are successful, you will be able to say that you have a vaccine certificate on your phone with all of the kind of health management practices that happen in one country. You can use it to get on a plane and go to another country, and then show this new country your vaccination credentials so that you can go to an event.
“It should be the same way that email and the web are interoperable ” he said. “Right now, there are some parts that get us closer to this, but I think there is a sincere commitment from everybody in our industry.”
Putting the Covid vaccine passport into wide usage will take a multifaceted approach. For example, some of the world’s poorest who do not use or have access to smartphones still rely on traditional paper credentials. Therefore, one initiative is developing smart cards to replace existing procedures.
“For us it’s about how the Covid-19 digital credential can be stored, presented, not only on smartphones but also other ways for those who aren’t accessing stable internet or don’t own a smartphone. There are companies doing really promising work in this area.
Once they have a vaccine passport, companies will need to make sure people are comfortable using it. That means confronting concerns about the handling of private medical information.
CommonPass, IBM and the Linux Foundation all want to make sure that people’s private information is safe. IBM says that people can give permission for their data on their health to be used. People can also choose how much detail of their information they want to share with authorities.
“Trust and transparency are an important aspect when developing a platform like a digital health passport, or any solution that handles sensitive personal information,” the company said in a blog post. “Putting privacy first is an important priority for managing and analyzing data in response to these complex times.”
Different companies across many countries are making vaccines. These vaccines may not be the same. So, passport makers need to make sure that they account for all of the differences.
“Did you get the Pfizer vaccine, did you get the Chinese vaccine, or did you get the Russian one?” asked Crampton. The efficiency of each vaccine is different – for example, Sinopharm’s has an effectiveness rate of 86% against Covid-19 and Moderna is around 95%.
It is not clear whether the vaccine stops the virus from being transferred. There could be a chance that you can still get the virus even if you have been vaccinated. So be careful about getting on a plane or going to an event, because it might not work in stopping you from getting sick.
Gwen Ihnat, associate professor of infectious disease epidemiology in the Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg School of Public Health, says “We still don’t know if vaccinated people can transmit infection or not,” adding that this lack of clarity will determine whether health care workers’ mandatory vaccine passport policy is effective.
