Could COVID-19 Passports Become Mandatory?

Israel is the first country to announce it will issue a “green passport” to residents who receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to its Ministry of Health.

Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that proof of vaccination “will be essential for public health services,” which include studies on vaccine effectiveness, vaccine impact, and monitoring post-vaccine adverse events.

WHO says it is looking into the possible use of “e-vaccination certificates” for travelers, but advised that these are not the same as immunity passports, according to published reports.

Dr. Hans Kluge, regional director for WHO Europe, said that immunity passports only say that an individual has had COVID-19 and do not guarantee safety, since reinfections have occurred.

According to Newsweek, WHO is also investigating ways to include proof of vaccination for school entry requirements and other national legal frameworks. The organization is looking into e-documents instead of paper certificates to avoid lost certificates or cases of fraud. Currently the only vaccination requirement for travel is a yellow fever vaccine from areas endemic to the disease to other countries. If a similar requirement is recommended for COVID-19, it would have to follow the protocol of the International Health Regulations.

“We will need to secure enough supply and access to safe and effective vaccines before such a certificate would be feasible,” said WHO.

In Israel, Chezy Levy, the Ministry of Health’s Director-General, said that a vaccine passport offers many benefits to the holder.

“This passport will show that a person is vaccinated and will give a number of advantages such as not needing to quarantine, entry to all kinds of culture events, restaurants, and so on,” he said, according to Newsweek.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) that represents 300 member airlines announced the development of the IATA Travel Pass, an app that would store documentation about COVID-19 tests and proof of vaccination. According to Newsweek, the app is expected to be available for both iOS and Android in March 2021.