A mobile app that proves you've been vaccinated could become a requirement to check in for a flight or go to a concert. Trials are set to begin in Europe in a couple of weeks.
Locked-down countries desperate to get tourism going are pushing for ”vaccination passports.” Enthusiastically supported by airlines who hope it will mean passengers will avoid automatic quarantine upon arrival.
– I think that is what is needed to open up the economy, says Professor Richard Thaler, who received the Riksbank's Economics Prize in Memory of Nobel in 2017.
Greece in the lead
Within the EU, Greece has taken the lead in getting a European vaccination passport. Brussels has yet to set foot on establishing a common standard for it. Denmark, Sweden and the UK have recently said they will have it in place before the summer.
– We are just at the beginning of the assignment. The biggest challenge is that there are so many actors and unclear conditions and that there is so little time to complete it, says Mats Snäll, who is responsible for the assignment at the Swedish Agency for Digital Governance.
Estonia, on the other hand, has far-reaching plans. Within a couple of weeks, a pilot project is expected to be launched, which Iceland, Hungary and Poland are also participating in. The digital infrastructure is based on the so-called ”blockchain”.
– It is a matter of months before we see this widely in aviation in Europe, hopes Ain Aaviksoo, who leads the project at the Estonian company Guardtime, and points out that it is important that the certificate can be obtained both digitally and on paper.
Seen as a carrot for vaccination
Estonia will share the experience of the trial with the WHO. But so far, individual countries and organizations are running their own races. For example, the airline industry's IATA will begin testing its TravelPass in Europe in mid-March, for certificates of vaccination and Covid tests.
There is already criticism that vaccination passes divide the population into those who can move freely and those who remain in ”lockdown.” Proponents say it could be a carrot to get people vaccinated.
– I am absolutely against it, I don't want anyone to force me into anything, says Anette Farias, who points out that she is against vaccines, when SVT asks travelers at San Francisco airport.
Source:svt
