Borders that reopen, but under conditions.
While the vaccination campaigns against the Covid-19 progress from country to country, several of them are considering the establishment of a vaccination passport to allow travel abroad.
The idea of a "pass" for travel is not new: the Air France company intends in particular to experiment from today on a "digital health pass" on its connections between Paris, Guadeloupe and Martinique, in order to to prove that its holder has tested negative for Covid-19.
But the Minister for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, went further, declaring this Thursday that the system tested by Air France could be a "foreshadowing or anticipation of what could be tomorrow a future
travel pass
".
This certificate, also called “health passport” or “green passport” depending on the country, proves that its holder is vaccinated and can therefore travel from one country to another without risking transmitting the virus across borders.
In some cases, people who have already been infected with the coronavirus and have antibodies may also fall into this category.
Which countries already have these vaccine passports?
Which are planning to put them in place?
We take stock.
"A health certificate" in China
China this week launched a digital passport (a "health certificate for international travel", as it is worded) for its citizens only and optional.
This “certificate” takes the form of a smartphone application that displays and authenticates passenger health data.
It contains, in addition to information on their vaccinations, their results of possible Covid-19 screenings, specifies the Department of Consular Affairs on its site, cited by Reuters.
The interest, at this stage, of this "certificate" is not very clear, since China does not have an agreement to use these passports with other countries.
Israel forms a tourist bubble with Greece and Cyprus
In February, Israel and Greece struck a deal to create a sort of "tourist bubble" allowing their vaccinated citizens to travel unrestricted to the two countries this summer.
Concretely, the two countries have agreed to recognize the validity of their respective “green passports”.
In the Hebrew country, the "green passport" is in fact a health passport, accessible via an application of the Ministry of Health, readable with a QR code, which allows access to certain places, and which certifies that its holder is indeed vaccinated, or immunized, against Covid-19.
In Greece, the “vaccination certificate” will also be digital, bilingual, with a QR code and government certifications, and must be in place before the summer.
Israel has also entered into a similar agreement with Cyprus.
The passport already in place in Bahrain
The kingdom of the Persian Gulf launched its vaccination passport in February, via the application "Be Aware" (the equivalent of TousAntiCovid), which issues an official certificate showing the name of its holder, date of birth, nationality and name of the vaccine he received, details Reuters.
These certificates are valid two weeks after receipt of the second dose of the vaccine.
To check them, just scan a QR code provided by the application "which leads to the national vaccine registry," said the state press agency in a statement.
A certificate under development in Sweden and Denmark
The two Nordic countries announced in February the development of digital vaccination certificates, which would allow their citizens to travel abroad.
These “passes” could also allow access to certain events.
Sweden hopes to be able to deploy its certificates in June.
Denmark, meanwhile, also aims to set up its "coronapas" within three months, and has meanwhile designed an online registry solution to verify the vaccination status of a patient.
A digital green passport project for Europe
The European Union is also discussing the possibility of a unified vaccination passport between its member countries.
The European Commission will present, in March, a digital pass (“Digital Green Pass”) attesting to vaccination against Covid or negative tests to travel more freely.
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Will a vaccination passport be required to be able to travel to Europe this summer?
It could also indicate whether a person is immune to the presence of antibodies.
The goal?
"Gradually allow Europeans to move safely within the EU or outside, for work or tourism," said on Twitter Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the Commission.
The preparatory work on this passport should take at least three months.
Ongoing debates in the United Kingdom and the United States
In the UK there are plans to integrate a vaccination passport into the NHS (National Health Service) application.
"If another country says that you cannot enter it unless you are vaccinated, in this case, we want the British to be able to demonstrate it", defended the Minister of Health Matt Hancock.
The idea, however, sparked a flurry of criticism, so much so that a petition was launched to the British government to prevent the implementation of these passports, according to the BBC.
The subject could therefore be the subject of a debate among the deputies.
On the side of the United States, the administration of Joe Biden evokes the idea of a vaccine passport in its long plan detailing its strategy to fight against the epidemic.
Several government agencies are thus encouraged to “assess the feasibility” of linking vaccine injections to international vaccine certificates, and to produce digital versions.
Businesses and unions, including airlines, as well as the American Chamber of Commerce, recently urged the White House to tackle the development of the vaccine passport, according to CBS News.
Companies already mobilized
The airline organizations, eager to want to relaunch traffic after having been hit hard by the pandemic, have themselves already reflected on the subject.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which brings together most of the global sector, has been working for several months on a digital passport allowing passengers to prove their health status before boarding.
Companies like American Airlines, Iberia and British Airways use the Verifly application, which allows you to pre-enter health information, whether negative tests or a vaccination certificate.
However, the implementation of these passports poses a whole host of legal questions.
By making vaccination compulsory for certain trips, they would create inequality between citizens, while access to anti-Covid vaccines is still very limited in most countries.
Finally, privacy advocates are also concerned about the way, which remains largely imprecise, in which these applications would access personal health data.
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Vaccine passport: the surprising adhesion of the French
In France, for example, there is an official database of people who have already received an anti-Covid vaccine.
The digital regulatory authority, the CNIL, accepts its existence, but it has warned: if it is to use it for a passport, it will re-examine the subject very closely.