Vaccine passport: What is it all about?
One of the most prominent industries to take a hit due to the coronavirus pandemic was travel. Airlines and hotels suffered massive losses, and so did places economically dependent on tourism. However, with lockdowns globally easing down and vaccines being administered at a steady pace, travel has been opening up again. After more than a year without it, people’s demand for travel has been extremely high.
In order to steer clear of potential future waves of COVID-19, countries are still exercising caution when it comes to letting people through their borders. Although there is not much hassle for local travel, there are numerous obstacles for international travel. So, there has been an increasing call for vaccine passports- projected to be an essential travel document in the future.
What is a vaccine passport?
A vaccine passport, also known as an immunity passport, is essentially a proof that you have been vaccinated against certain diseases (namely CO-VID) and have developed a certain level of immunity against them. It basically proves the status of an individual’s health. This could be either a physical document or a digital one, and is checked during the course of travel to ensure that the passenger is not a potential risk, and is not a carrier of any transmittable viruses or diseases.
Many countries have developed their own vaccine passports and they are already in use. However, there has been an argument about them since some vaccines are not recognised in specific countries, while they are in others. For examples, some Indian vaccines are still not recognised by the European Union which would mean that travellers from India would have to self-quarantine and/or get another dose of a recognised vaccine.
Who needs a vaccine passport?
India does not have its own vaccine passports yet. But vaccine certificate can now be linked to the passport on the government’s Arogya Setu app. Thus, the vaccine certificate becomes a part of the soft copy of the passport/ E-passport. These passports may also extend beyond travel, and be a requirement for entry into other public places like malls, cinemas, stadiums, etc.
The debate
The concept of a vaccine passport is constantly debated upon with privacy concerns being the chief point of argument. Moreover, the lack of standardised vaccine passports makes border controls question its validity, thus causing hassle and confusion.