(AP) – Airlines and other travel industry companies are backing behind so-called vaccine passports to increase travel with pandemic depression, and European authorities could accept the idea soon enough for the high season of Summer vacation.
Technology companies and travel-related business groups are developing and testing various versions of vaccine passports, also called health certificates or travel passes.
It is unclear, however, whether any of the developing passports will be accepted worldwide, and the result could be confusion among travelers and disappointment for the travel industry.
Here are some key questions about health credentials.
WHAT IS A VACCINE PASSPORT?
This is documentation showing that a traveler has been vaccinated against COVID-19 or has been negative recently for the virus that causes it.
The information is stored on a phone or other mobile device that the user shows to airline employees and border agents. The Biden administration and others also want a paper version available.
WHO DESIGNS THEM?
The commercial group for global airlines, the International Air Transport Association, is testing a version it calls Travel Pass. IBM is developing another, called the Digital Health Pass. There are several other private sector initiatives.
Some countries get involved and use passports beyond air travel. Israel uses a new “green passport” to ensure that only people vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 can attend public events, such as concerts. Denmark hopes to launch a pass that will allow vaccinated people to travel with fewer restrictions.
WHY DO TRAVEL COMPANIES WANT THEM?
International air travel has collapsed during the pandemic, as countries impose restrictions such as quarantines or direct bans to curb the spread of the virus. Airlines have vaccine passports to persuade governments to set aside some of these restrictions that discourage visitors.
“The importance of this to restart international aviation cannot be overstated,” said Alexandre de Juniac, general manager of the airline trading group.
Hotel operators who depend on international visitors also want to see the approved passes.
The airline trading group tested its application on Wednesday on a Singapore Airlines flight to London. A passenger put a digital version of his passport, coronavirus test results and travel restrictions at his destination on a mobile device.
WHERE WILL THESE STEPS BE REQUIRED?
Vaccine passports will be more common on international flights. Some countries already require vaccination tests for diseases such as yellow fever and the United States now requires a negative test for COVID-19 to enter the country, so the digital health passport is not a big leap.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
Available vaccines are the most effective in preventing serious illness, but that does not rule out the possibility that vaccinated travelers could spread the virus.
“I think we now have enough evidence to say that these vaccines reduce transmission, that vaccinated people are much less likely to transmit the disease,” says Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health. “How much? We don’t know.” Suppose it is around 80%.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend not traveling, although the agency has relaxed other guidelines for vaccinated people.
WHAT ABOUT JUSTICE?
Other critics say the certificates will primarily benefit people in richer countries and relatively well-to-do people in each country (those most likely to get vaccinated quickly and those most likely to have smartphones).
“It will be the rich, the privileged, who will get to fly, and the rest will have no access to it,” says Lisa Eckenwiler, who teaches health ethics at George Mason University. She sees a particular potential for injustice if health steps are extended to workplaces and schools.
WHAT ABOUT PRIVACY?
Consumers will be nervous about sharing health information that could be hacked or exposed in the event of a breach, according to Stephen Beck, of management consultancy CG42.
“When it comes to this, people will ask themselves: is it worth sharing sensitive information for a leisure trip?” he says, “and for many, the answer will be no.”
IATA and IBM claim their passes use blockchain technology and the information will not be stored in one central location.
WHAT ROLE WILL THE US GOVERNMENT PLAY?
Airlines and business groups are pressuring the White House to take the lead in setting standards for health permits. They believe this would avoid a scope of regional credentials that could cause confusion among travelers and prevent any single health certificate from being widely accepted.
But the Biden administration says it is up to the private sector and nonprofits to figure out how Americans can prove they have been vaccinated or tested.
“It’s not the government’s role to keep that data and do it,” Andy Slavitt, a White House virus response adviser, said this week. “It must be private, the data must be secure, access to it must be free, it must be available in both digital and paper format and in several languages.”
Other governments, such as those in Israel and Denmark, are taking a more active role.
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David Koenig can be contacted at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter
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