Will I need vaccine tests to travel abroad?

As vaccine launches increase the pace around the world, attention is now turning to other types of vaccines: vaccine passports.

Last week, the International Air Transport Association announced the launch of its new digital travel pass as “the way forward” to resume international travel without quarantine.

The app, which is being tested by 30 carriers, will allow governments and airlines to collect, access and share encrypted information related to the Covid-19 passenger test. and vaccination status before the trip.

The International Chamber of Commerce and the World Economic Forum have created similar applications – ICC AOKpass and CommonPass – to allow travelers to document their medical status electronically. Countries like Denmark and Sweden are launching their own health passports, and even the tech giants are looking to get involved.

What are digital health passports and will they make it easier to get back to heaven this year?

It is also known as the digital passage of health. The vaccination passport is digital documentation indicating that a person has been vaccinated against a virus, in this case Covid.

Stored in a digital phone or wallet, the data is usually presented as a QR code and can also show if a person has tested negative for a virus.

This documentation is unprecedented. For decades, people have had to show physical “yellow cards” as evidence of vaccination against diseases such as cholera, yellow fever and rubella when traveling to certain countries.

However, this marks the first time the industry is concentrating behind an electronic alternative designed to improve verifiability and circumvent some of the delays caused by paper counterparts.

“Imagine the scene if 180,000 people present a piece of paper that needs to be reviewed and validated,” said Mike Tansey, CEO in Accenture, referring to the number of daily passengers prior to Singapore’s Changi Airport.

Tansey, who heads Accenture’s APAC hospitality and travel division, has been working with some major airlines on their digital healthcare subscription strategies, including three in the U.S. and several in Asia and the Pacific.

He told CNBC’s Global Traveler that these plans have been “accelerated” since the vaccine was launched, and for him the need for such permits is clear.

“The obvious answer is yes, we do,” Tansey said, when asked if we would need digital health passes to resume travel.

He described the debates as “red herring”.

“Governments may not say you have to, but the implications of it won’t be so ridiculous that the trips won’t be worth it,” he said, referring to exhaustive evidence and “draconian” quarantines.

Tansey is not alone. Other experts agree that digital health passports can be the fastest and most effective way to resume international travel.

Jase Ramsey, a professor of management at Lutgert College of Business at Florida Gulf Coast University, agreed that the likelihood of adoption was “very high.” But he noted that security and personal data concerns may leave consumers less willing to adopt digital health passes than their physical alternatives.

“As with any app that stores medical records, there will be privacy and fraud issues,” Ramsey said.

Accredify is a Singapore-based document accreditation company, whose technology is used under the health tests planned for the Covid-19 trip planned by the Singapore government. He claims that the appeal of digital accreditation systems, like his own, which is based on the blockchain, is that they are not counterfeit and therefore cannot be counterfeited.

“Medical documents stored privately and securely in the app are only accessible to users, allowing them to decide with whom to share their medical history and when,” a spokesman for the email said.

The resistance of travelers can be exaggerated. A recent study by travel news site The Vacationer found that 73.6% of Americans surveyed said they would use a Covid passport or health app so airlines and border authorities could check their vaccination status and test results.

The success of digital health passports will depend on the effectiveness of vaccines. Little is known about whether vaccines prevent the spread of Covid, although research is underway.

The World Health Organization has urged caution against health permits, and has instructed authorities and tour operators not to introduce vaccination tests as a condition for international travel.

“This is because the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing transmission is not yet clear and the global supply of vaccines is limited,” a WHO spokesman said.

Coordinating the various existing and pending vaccine passports on the market and ensuring that user certifications are linked to verified and approved medical facilities will be a major challenge.

“For vaccine passports to be a practical international tool, there must be a standardized platform that crosses all borders, such as the current passport system,” said Dr. Harry Severance, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine. of Duke University.

WHO is collaborating with agencies such as the International Air Transport Association and the International Civil Aviation Organization to develop standards for digital vaccination cards. He added that his position on health steps “will evolve as tests on existing and new Covid-19 vaccines are updated.”

Then, of course, there are the social, legal, and political ramifications of a system based on inequitable global access to vaccines and technology.

According to the WHO, approximately 3.6 billion people worldwide cannot access the Internet and more than 1.1 billion cannot officially prove their identity. For many, paper passes will remain essential.

“People from different countries, regions, or communities may not have access to vaccines or Covid-19 testing,” said Dr. Sharona Hoffman, a professor of bioethics at the Western Western Reserve University School of Medicine. noted that low-income countries may not receive vaccines. until 2023 or beyond. “A policy that prevents them from traveling or obtaining other services because of this could be discriminatory and exacerbate socioeconomic disparities.”

These systems could also be a precedent among other groups looking to reopen in a similar way, such as restaurants and event venues. In fact, Israel has already created a “green passport” to give vaccinated citizens access to public places.

This week, some U.S. states decided to withdraw mask mandates, which could exacerbate this problem.

“As a community moves in that direction, many, many more will follow. As these decisions go across the country, you may find that vaccine ‘carding’ is becoming a standard,” he said. dir Severance.

Ultimately, the resumption of international travel will depend both on the willingness of countries to reopen and on existing travel verification technology.

In Asia-Pacific, where borders remain largely closed to tourists, governments may tend toward bilateral agreements, or “travel bubbles,” with select neighbors before opening more broadly, Accenture’s Tansey said. .

“The file the reality … is that we are still six months away from any significant air travel, “he said.” They will only be agreements with one or two sites at a time. “

However, with much of the technology underway and society moving towards an increasingly digitalized future, developments today in digital health passports could leave the travel industry and society better prepared to to any possible turbulence.

“If we evolve into an internationally recognized system of health (or) surveillance passports, etc., this will be a facet of a downstream preparedness system that will possibly allow us to survive an impending pandemic, which may have worse dynamics than Covid -19, “Severance said.