Vaccination passports: when the world and Ukraine will start issuing vaccination certificates

Author

Yulia Ustymovych

The demo version of coronavirus vaccination passports in the European Union is going to be presented on March 17. However, there is still no common solution in the world regarding such certificates.

Deputy Minister of Health Yaroslav Kucher told about this during a briefing.

Noww countries that carry out vaccinations issue vaccination certificates or QR codes. Thus, in Israel, a certificate is issued in electronic form, in Poland—a QR code, in Denmark a certificate can be downloaded through special portals, in Hungary—through a mobile application, and in Sweden a certificate can be downloaded in electronic format.

Vaccination passports in the world

"Green passports" in the EU countries

In order to travel freely within the EU countries, a person will have to be vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency. Currently, only four vaccines from Pfizer-BioNtech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have been approved in the EU.

Vaccination passports will be valid during the coronavirus pandemic, and even despite the vaccination, quarantine will have to be observed.

The certificate will be issued in digital and paper format. It is planned that the vaccination passport system will be introduced by the summer of 2021, especially for southern countries that depend on tourism.

Thus, Greece wants to open borders as early as May 14, and Spain is considering opening up to vaccinated persons from May 19. Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Austria were also in favor of the introduction of passports.

Vaccination passport in China

At the same time, China has launched a mini-program with the Chinese version of the international health certificate for tourists. It has been launched by the Chinese messenger WeChat. The certificate shows the results of tests for nucleic acids and IgG antibodies, as well as the presence or absence of vaccination against coronavirus.

This information can be obtained by any foreign Ministry of Health by reading the QR code. The certificate can be printed as well.

Business vaccination passports

A number of airlines have decided to test the vaccination verification application IATA Travel Pass developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The information about the vaccination history and the medications used to vaccinate a person against the coronavirus can be obtained in it. Qatar Airways, airBaltic, Air Serbia, and Singapore Airlines have joined the platform.

Who is against vaccination passports

At the same time, France has opposed the introduction of a unified vaccination passport, because the country lags behind the pace of vaccination from other countries.

The idea was also coolly received in Ireland and Germany. These countries believe that such a decision will affect discrimination against the unvaccinated population. This is especially true for young people who will be vaccinated last.

In addition, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pointed out that vaccinations are voluntary and there should be no discrimination against those who do not want or who cannot be vaccinated. Therefore, in the UK, it is believed that passports should be given if there is a negative test for coronavirus.

This idea has been called discriminatory in Belgium as well.

At the same time, WHO has opposed vaccination passports due to the lack of vaccines and the need to test their efficacy.

Vaccination passport in Ukraine

Ambassador of Ukraine to the State of Israel Yevgen Korniychuk has reported that negotiations on the mutual recognition of vaccination documents are ongoing between the countries. However, the main problem is that Israel has not certified the CoviShield vaccine, the Indian analogue of AstraZeneca, that is used for vaccinations in Ukraine.

At the same time, Greece has already agreed with Israel on the recognition of vaccination passports. In particular, negotiations are underway with Ukraine.

However, the Ministry of Health has assured that after the approval of the unified document, Ukraine will also be able to issue such documents to citizens. The data will be taken from the vaccination registry.

In addition, the Chief Sanitary Doctor Viktor Lyashko said that Ukraine will issue an international vaccination certificate if such a certificate is needed to cross the borders of certain countries.