Digital health certificates, digital health passports, vaccination passports: whatever you call them, these technological solutions seem to be well on the way to becoming an important part of travellers' lives, and indeed of everyone's daily lives. Ethical debates aside, some countries have already settled the issue.
Denmark, for example, recently announced that it was working on a "coronapaswhich should be available to residents of the country within three to four months. Issued to people who have been vaccinated, tested negative or developed antibodies, this digital passport will take the form of a mobile application, enabling them to access restaurants, shops and theatres without risk. Its Swedish neighbour intends to follow suit by next summer. "When Sweden and the countries around us start to reopen their societies, vaccination certificates will probably be required for travel and possibly to take part in other activities".said Anders Ygeman, Sweden's Minister for Digitalisation, at a press conference.
Very advanced in its vaccination campaign, Israel considered issuing a "green passport" very early on to people who have been vaccinated, enabling them to attend public events, go to restaurants and travel. To this end, the country has recently joined the Greecewhich is also campaigning within Europe for vaccination certificates for relaunch its tourism industry. The two countries have concluded an agreement based on the mutual recognition of their vaccination certifications to avoid quarantine periods. " This is a very important achievement for both countries, which will be working in parallel on guidelines that will enable tourism to return to both countries." tweeted Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs. Israel and Cyprus reached a similar agreement at the end of December.
In the same vein, the Malaysia has just announced the launch in March of a Immunitee Health Passportbased on Affinidi's Unifier platform (see interview) and will make it easier to get around SingaporeThe City-State's immigration authorities have given the go-ahead. "These digitally verifiable health certificates are designed to provide travellers with a smooth and pleasant experience when travelling during the pandemic and will be easily checked at Singapore airport once the borders reopen."said Immunitee. That's not the only significance of this solution, as it can be scanned in public places, stadiums, universities and all other organisations equipped to read the QR codes issued by the application.
These examples are far from the only ones in the world. In January, theSaudi Arabia presented the Tawakkalna digital application, a digital passport developed by the Ministry of Health and the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence. At Kenyathe civil aviation authority requires departing passengers to prove their negativity digitally, supported by a network of authorised laboratories. Some countries, such as United Kingdom or United States are also working on the idea of digital health certification.
At the risk of creating a two-speed world between the vaccinated and the non-vaccinated? Some countries, notably FranceSeveral major institutions, such as the World Health Organisation and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, are also reluctant to make vaccination a universal sesame.
Augustin de Romanet, CEO of the ADP group, shares this view, even though he is primarily interested in a resumption of air travel. " It's perfectly possible not to be vaccinated at a given time because of an allergy or because you don't want to have an injection immediately after becoming ill with COVID. Should this prevent you from travelling? Does air transport have the right to impose constraints of the same scope as a State? I think not" he said recently at Figaroat the same time stressing that " the introduction of private players into the field of health information management is in any case fraught with challenges in terms of respect for privacy. "
stop pitting mobility against health safety
Nevertheless, the expectations of the tourism sector are high and the impatience of many of its players is palpable. In a letter co-signed by Jean-Pierre Mas, Mumtaz Teker, René-Marc Chikli and Jean-François Rial, representatives of France's leading travel companies, they call on France, the world's leading tourist destination in terms of visitor numbers, to " stop pitting mobility against health safetyby not dragging its feet under false pretences and by proving, on the contrary, its capacity for anticipation. "
For all these professionals, " The creation of a health certificate is not a substitute for public policy, as each state remains free to decide on the conditions of access to its territory. Proof of vaccination will probably be imposed by a number of countries, with varying criteria: one injection, two injections, date of vaccination, type of vaccine, etc. It is inconceivable to expect global harmonisation. "A bon entendeur...
