Vaccine Passport to travel during the COVID-19 outbreak

What is the COVID Passport for travelling?

The COVID Passport, also known as the Vaccine Passport or simply the COVID certificate to travel, is a digital document that has been implemented by several countries as a new travel requirement.

This digital health passport is the most modern, up-to-date way to learn if international passengers are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and/or have a recent negative COVID test that allows them to enter and visit other countries.

Travelling with the COVID Vaccine Passport means having all the COVID health data gathered in a single, secure place so it can be shown to border officials.

COVID Vaccine Passport: countries’ situation

Currently, there are multiple countries working on the COVID Vaccine Passport, the EU Member States being the most active nations when it comes to launching these digital health documents.

While there are some countries asking for a vaccine certificate to international passengers, other nations are planning to soon launch their own COVID passports, digital health apps, and so-called immunity passes.

The current crisis has shown that multiple countries heavily depend on tourism and international travel to keep their economies running. Therefore, it is in their best interest to generate vaccination certificates or health passports that help them recover from the coronavirus outbreak in a safe, secure fashion.

Immunity passport and the European Union policy

Creating the EU Digital COVID Certificate, formely known as “green pass”, was a priority decision for the EU government.

Member States have been clear about the need of a common European Union policy to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, preserve public health and restart international travel.

In this regard, the region has even created the European Health Union to better coordinate the EU efforts during the pandemic.

Airlines and digital health certificates: How do they work?

Governments are not the only ones working on digital health certificates and COVID passports: airlines are also deeply committed to providing their passengers with biosecure measures when travelling abroad.

This is the case of the IATA Travel Pass, which will “validate and authenticate all country regulations regarding COVID-19 passenger travel requirements”, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Another good example of a COVID pass implemented by airlines is VeriFLY, which is an app currently in use where visitors can check and update their COVID travel requirements for international trips.

Coronavirus passport & data protection: Is my personal information safe?

Governments, airlines, and public institutions across the globe are working on technological solutions to provide the most secure digital health certificates, COVID passports and online vaccine apps.

In the case of the EU, data protection when travelling is of the utmost importance for European countries. This is why all new vaccine travel passports or certificates must comply with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation.

The same goes for other key COVID passport developers, who are creating health travel verifications that ensure protected health information is never shared or stored. Here, encrypted data and high-level cybersecurity protocols are common practice.