What Is A Vaccine Passport

What Is A Vaccine Passport And Will We Need One?

As more people become fully vaccinated and start traveling again, different groups are looking to enhance travel safety and reduce the potential coronavirus spread. One concept that’s gaining traction across the world is the travel vaccine passport. Here are some key points to better understand what might be involved.

BRAZIL – 2021/04/05: In this photo illustration a symbolic COVID-19 health passport seen displayed . [+] on a smartphone screen in front of the United States of America (USA) flag. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

How Vaccine Passports Work

Here is a quick step-by-step look at how vaccine passports function:

Download passport app to your mobile phone
Create an account with biometric data (thumbprint or face id)
Upload negative test results and vaccination dates
Scan passport QR code at travel checkpoints or public venues

Until a person receives their vaccine, it’s possible to upload negative COVID-19 test results. These results can be used to waive the mandatory quarantines when entering another state or country, for instance.

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Are Vaccine Passports New?

Vaccine passports are not a new invention, but countries and businesses are restarting the idea because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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United States officials required proof of vaccination for smallpox in the early 1900s. According to a Time Magazine article, proof could be one of three methods:

A paper document after receiving a smallpox vaccine
A properly scarred arm from the vaccine injection site
Pitted face (i.e., recovered from smallpox)

This proof was necessary to enter the United States at an international border crossing or one of the immigration processing facilities.

Over the 20th century and 21st century, international travelers may have needed to present proof of vaccination to enter certain countries. For instance, Yellow Fever is a common travel vaccine that some countries require.

The COVID-19 vaccine may be another mandatory travel vaccine.

What makes the coronavirus vaccine passport different from previous versions is that it will be digital. For other shots, travelers may only have to show a paper record that can be relatively easy to forget or forge.

International travelers may need to carry their existing travel passports and a vaccine passport. To travel, the final COVID-19 vaccine dose must be administered at least 14 days before departure.

Do Covid Vaccine Passports Exist?

There are currently several versions of a vaccine passport to record receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The passport is compatible with mobile phones, but the app may only work for a specific country.

People will need to bring their paper proof of vaccination form in places where there isn’t a nationwide digital passport available.

Is A Vaccine Passport Mandatory?

Yes and no. Some countries already have digital passports to record when people receive their coronavirus vaccines. Citizens must use the passport to travel or access certain public places. In other instances, private business groups are collaborating with biometrics companies like CLEAR to upload diagnostic test results and digital vaccination proof.

Here’s a look at the current stance of the United States plus a few other destinations.

United States

There currently isn’t a national vaccine passport for the United States. The Biden Administration has repeatedly stated they will not require Americans to carry proof of vaccination or keep a national vaccination database. However, the White House has said they will let the private sector and regional governments like states and cities enact stricter policies.

Employers might require vaccination as a condition of employment. Stores, theme parks and travel providers may require customers to be adequately vaccinated to enter.

There is also contention between states whether vaccine passports should be mandatory. The Florida, Texas and Idaho governors have passed executive orders discouraging state agencies and private businesses from requiring proof of vaccination to gain entry.

Other states are receptive to vaccination passports, including New York, Hawaii and Illinois.

New York Excelsior Pass

New York is one of the first states to roll out a statewide vaccine passport. The Excelsior Pass can produce stores negative COVID-19 test results and digital proof of vaccination. Government and private vendors can scan the QR code on the pass holder’s phone or a printed paper receipt to retrieve their vaccination details.

What Is A Vaccine Passport

A vaccine passport is a physical or digital health credential to confirm a person has been vaccinated for a particular contagious disease to enable travel.

What are vaccine passports and digital health passes?

Let’s start with vaccine passports – also called digital health passports or green certificates. Many travelers are familiar with the yellow card, or Carte Jaune, which is an official vaccination record created by the World Health Organization. This document, named for the yellow paper it’s traditionally printed on, is a public health tool that has been used for international travel since the 1930s and is typically carried with a passport. It shows customs authorities that a traveler has been vaccinated against certain diseases, such as yellow fever, typhoid or cholera.

Although vaccination cards like yellow cards are still being used and remain a popular way to document immunizations, many governments are considering creating modern, digital vaccine passports that are harder to forge. With the public health threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple countries are exploring whether vaccine passports and health passes could serve as proof of COVID-19 vaccination to restore confidence in international travel and help people resume their normal activities.

Israel was the first country to issue a modern vaccine passport with the launch of Green Pass in February 2021. As of May 2021, Israel, China, Bahrain and Japan are the only countries that have issued vaccine passports to vaccinated people for international travel and other uses. Australia and multiple countries in the European Union, such as Denmark and Greece, have committed to developing programs, while other countries are still weighing their options. In the United States, the Biden administration and leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated the federal government will not support or issue vaccine passports for Americans.

Vaccine passports are taking advantage of the increasing prevalence of new, secure digital credentialing technology. Beyond vaccine passports for international travel, it’s also being applied in other settings. For example, organizations that gather people in groups are looking for digital alternatives to both paper vaccination cards and test results. In some cases, this means identifying whether individuals have been tested or vaccinated in a voluntary and privacy-preserving manner.

Digital health passes – not to be confused with vaccine passports – are a voluntary, convenient option for individuals to share their health status, such as if they have been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. Rather than having to remember to carry around multiple documents, people with digital health passes can share a scannable QR code on their smartphone or print a paper copy of their credential that confirms their status, while personal information remains securely encrypted in a digital wallet on the individual’s phone.

With COVID-19 vaccine rollouts underway around the world, digital health passes are one of many tools governments, private companies, nonprofits and industry groups are considering to help people return to their favorite activities. For example, in March 2021, New York State launched Excelsior Pass, a free, secure and voluntary digital health pass to support the safe reopening of New York.

Even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, digital credentialing technology will remain a useful tool for individuals to show they have received any necessary vaccinations or other aspects of their health status. Digital credentials could also become a useful way for schools to manage student vaccination records or for employers to oversee any medical clearances or vaccinations required for job sites.

FAQ: What Is A Vaccine ‘Passport,’ And What Are These Credentials Used For?

New York State’s Excelsior Pass is an app that people can use to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

NY Governor’s Press Office via AP

Vaccine “passports” are making headlines and eliciting emergency measures by governors in a handful of states.

So what are these credentials, exactly, and what are they used for?

What is a vaccine passport?

It’s a credential that can be used to show that a person has been vaccinated. The same technology can be used to show a person’s coronavirus test results. It’s a way to demonstrate a person’s health status, generally through a smartphone app or a QR code that has been printed.

“It’s really not a passport to necessarily cross borders. It’s a certification. It’s providing information about what your status is in some area,” Dr. Zeke Emanuel, professor of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania and former member of President Biden’s Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board, told NPR.

Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president of policy at Airlines for America, an airline trade group, puts it this way: “It’s really just digitizing a little piece of paper that has your vaccine information on it.”

The basic idea is that you would have a QR code, likely stored in a digital wallet, that indicates your vaccination status. State health departments, pharmacies and health systems have this information; your status would be verified along with your identity and downloaded in some way, generating the QR code. The QR code would then be scanned by another app for entry.

Why are vaccine passports controversial?

Some people have concerns about how their health status will be stored and used. There are also concerns around equity: making sure that people of all ages and backgrounds have access to vaccination and to these credentials. And some people don’t want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, and they may bristle at the idea that their unvaccinated status could potentially block their access to certain places.

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Like masks and vaccines, vaccine passports have become politicized.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order last week prohibiting businesses from requiring customers to provide any certification of COVID-19 vaccination to gain entry or service.

The order says that “so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports reduce individual freedom and will harm patient privacy,” and that requiring the passes for “everyday life” activities like going to a sporting event, restaurant or movie theater “would create two classes of citizens based on vaccinations.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order this week that prohibits state agencies from creating a vaccine passport requirement, or otherwise conditioning services on an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination status. Organizations receiving public funds are prohibited from requiring consumers to provide documentation of vaccine status in order to receive service or gain entry.

Is the U.S. government going to require Americans to carry a vaccine passport?

The White House emphatically says no.

“The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week. “There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.”

The government’s interest is to ensure that Americans’ privacy and rights are protected and that such systems are not used against people unfairly, Psaki said.

“There is a movement, as you know, in the private sector to identify ways that they can return to events where there are large swaths of people safely in soccer stadiums or theaters. And that’s something that — that’s where the idea originated, and we expect that’s where it will be concluded,” she added.

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For businesses like airlines that need to screen for a country’s health requirements, digital passes are a huge time-saver.

“Digitizing paper essentially allows airlines to process passengers more quickly,” says Pinkerton at Airlines For America. “What a digitized testing or health or vaccine credential would allow is us to make that determination automatically without an agent having to touch a piece of paper, look at it, determine it’s accurate and meets the requirements. So this is really, in sum, an automation and a facilitation for passengers in order to speed up their journey through the airport.”

Where might they be used?

They will almost certainly be used for international travel, where many countries already have testing requirements for arriving passengers. But they could also be used at sporting events, movie theaters, music venues, workplaces and for domestic travel.

Why are they called passports if they’re not just for international travel?

It’s a problem. Actual passports are generally required for international travel. These credentials, in contrast, are often optional and could be used much closer to home. Even for international travel, airlines say the new credentials are more akin to TSA Precheck or CLEAR – they’re an optional means of faster check-in.

Folks working to develop the new COVID-19 status credentials generally say that “passport” is a misnomer, and say that a better term is “digital credential” or “health credential.”

Where are these passes already in use?

New York State has already launched its Excelsior Pass, which is voluntary and can be used by a range of businesses.

For travel, some of these passes are already in use to satisfy coronavirus testing requirements. CommonPass, made by a nonprofit called The Commons Project, is being used on all Lufthansa flights from Germany into the U.S. JetBlue is trying out the CommonPass on flights between Boston and Aruba. United has tested it for flights between Newark and London Heathrow.

American Airlines is using an app called VeriFLY on international flights to the U.S., and on flights from the U.S. to at least eight countries.

Is there a precedent for requiring vaccine credentials?

Yes. Schools and universities commonly require proof of vaccination for students.

And for travel, such requirements are routine. Many countries have long required arriving travelers to have received specific inoculations.

There are other precedents where a certain kind of credential is optional, but can make for speedier entry, like TSA Precheck, Global Entry, or CLEAR.

Are these passes actually going to be required many places?

Due to politicization and other features of American life, the adoption of these passes may be scant in places like restaurants, theaters and music venues.

Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, told STAT that the passes represent a “slippery slope.”

“It’s impractical,” Benjamin said. “This is a nation that does not allow a national identity card. Getting compliance is going to be hard, and I think it leads to politicization. I would like to avoid that.”

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Audrey Fix Schaefer at the National Independent Venue Association, an organization of independent music venues, expressed relief that there won’t be a national requirement for such passes.

“We’re grateful to learn that there will not be a national mandated verification program; independent venues will be making their own individual policy decisions taking into account guidelines and recommendations from the CDC. That said, while vaccine verification is the hot topic, we have questions and concerns surrounding the effectiveness of only implementing verification at live events and not other business where people gather, the cost implications for small businesses, and equitable access and ethical issues surrounding such programs.”

What Is A Vaccine Passport

What Is A Vaccine Passport And Will We Need One?

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What Is A Vaccine Passport