The Times newspaper has reported that British officials have started work on a “vaccine passport”.
The newspaper said that the UK Foreign Office, the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care are working on options that could be used by travellers for countries that might demand vaccination as a condition of entry or allow vaccinated travellers to avoid quarantine.
Estonia, for example, now allows people who have been vaccinated against Covid in the past six months to avoid the ten-day self-isolation normally imposed on arrivals.
BTN Europe reported two weeks ago about a call by the Greek prime minister for co-ordination on vaccine certificates.
The World Tourism Organization has also called for the introduction of a scheme to simplify entry. The UNWTO’s secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili said in January: “The rollout of vaccines is a step in the right direction…vaccines must be part of a wider, coordinated approach that includes certificates and passes for safe cross-border travel”.
Sweden and Denmark have also announced plans for such passports.
Andrew Crawley, chief commercial officer, American Express Global Business Travel, said, "Our energy and the government’s focus needs to be firmly on preparing for the restart of travel. When restrictions ease, we don’t want excuses, or clumsy processes, or to find out that there are fragmented standards for health passports and test certifications. There must be a plan to create consistent international regulations."
He added: "There must be universal agreement on the accreditation of medical providers, and certification of vaccines and test results. A failure to prepare could have profound consequences for our economic recovery. Sweden, Denmark, Greece, the UK and others are all talking about developing their own health passports. It sounds promising, but there is significant risk without widespread alignment. How is the data obtained? What happens when a traveller arrives at the airport? Which country will accept what certification?"