Thought of the Day - March 18 2021 - Immunity Passports

It has been a while since we talked about 'Immunity Passports' ( Thought of the Day - October 9 - Immunity Passports Revisited ). In the meantime, there has been plenty of action happening behind the scenes. Note that in a number of cases, what is being talked about is a 'Vaccine Passport'. Simply a record that you have had a vaccination - thus avoiding any statement concerning immunity, or even including immunity after recovery from COVID.

Among the initiatives:

• China has been actively encouraging national travel to make up for last-years lost New Years' celebrations. They have rolled out 'international travel health certificates' using a digital certificate accessed via WeChat;

• Israel, who is a leader in the world in vaccination, launched its 'Green Pass' on February 21st as part of the lifting of lockdowns;

• The EU, suggests they will have a 'Digital Green Certification' ready in about three months, covering test results and vaccination records. It relies on a smartphone app;

  • Iceland is taking a pragmatic approach saying they will accept any certificates from the EU (EMA) or the World Health Organization (WHO);

  • Hungary has announced that from March 1 it will issue a passport in the form of a card to citizens who have had the vaccine or have immunity after recovering from COVID-19;

• The US has been quiet on the subject. Indeed there has been more publicity concerning lawsuits about the legality of requiring vaccines, and of privacy protection;

• Bahrain’s ‘BeAware’ app displays a green shield alongside an official certificate detailing the person’s name, date of birth, nationality and which vaccine was received;

• In India, everyone who has been vaccinated will get a QR code-based electronic certificate via the Co-WIN app;

• Brunei will be adding vaccine information to their 'BruHealth' app;

• The WHO said last spring that immunity passports were a bad idea, we still don't know the true level of immunity and they would just exacerbate economic inequalities. While this is still true, given the level of activity in this area this is their one opportunity to steer the discussion;

• Canada: Here is BC, as mentioned last week, we have a 'Health Gateway' that was started in late 2019 that provides digital records online ( Thought of the Day - March 10 - BC Vaccine Registration Underway ). What is unclear, is how the various provincial systems will be integrated Canada-wide (but I bet any solution will have the word 'Green' in the name and not the word 'immunity). The only statement I could find from Hajdu was that Canada is "in very live discussion" with other G7 nations.

Of course, what is likely is a mish-mash of jurisdictions all having different solutions, both in terms of the data provided and the delivery mechanism (paper-card, citizenship passport update, online certificate, dedicated smartphone app etc.). As the biggest loser in such a scheme could be the Airline Industry, as reported earlier the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) has been developing a 'Travel Pass' with the hope of stitching this together.

They say the technology is built and they will start piloting at the end of March.

With the tourism industry now actively promoting "Revenge Travel", it is important that governments clarify their requirements and access methods for records of test results and vaccination as soon as possible. A common practice has the benefit that people will have more confidence that the person with whom they are sharing a seat has some form of 'certification'. Moreover, it means that the rules for international travel are well understood, so people do not miss out on their vacation due to red tape. Or worse yet, find they need to take another test at the last minute or obtain a fake certificate (more on this later).

The bottom line is, jurisdictions that provide clarity and assurances to potential visitors will be the first to see a significant uptick in their tourism industry.

Cheers

Cliff