Brendan McDermid | Reuters
LONDON – A digital passport for the vaccination of Covid is being developed jointly by a group of healthcare and technology companies who expect governments, airlines and other businesses to start soon to prove to people that they have been vaccinated.
A coalition known as the Vaccination Credential Initiative – which includes Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle, as well as the US healthcare nonprofit Mayo Clinic – was announced Thursday.
The VCI said it wants to develop technology that enables individuals to get an encrypted digital copy of their vaccination vouchers that can be stored in a digital wallet of their choice, such as the Apple Wallet or Google Pay. It is suggested that anyone without a smartphone can receive paper printed with QR codes, which contain verifiable references.
The coalition said it would also try to develop new standards to confirm whether or not someone had been vaccinated against the virus. In the past, citizens used vaccination booklets to keep track of their travel vaccines, but authorities rarely ask to see them.
“The purpose of the vaccination initiative for vaccination is to empower individuals with digital access to their vaccination records,” Paul Meyer, CEO of The Commons Project, a member of the coalition, said in a statement.
He added that the technology should allow people to “return safely to travel, work, school and life while protecting their privacy on the data.”
Bill Patterson, executive vice president and general manager of the enterprise software company Salesforce, said his business wants to help organizations adjust all aspects of the vaccination management’s life cycle and closely align with the offerings of other coalition members, who we will all help to return to public life. ‘
“With a single platform to deliver safe and ongoing operations and deepen trust among customers and employees, this coalition will be crucial to support public health and well-being,” Patterson added.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
Vaccination divides opinion
Although many people cannot wait to protect themselves from the virus, some are determined that they will not get the sting, which divides the population into those who have been vaccinated and those who have not. In the UK, one in five say they are unlikely to get the vaccine, according to YouGov’s research published in November, citing various reasons.
According to opinion polls, millions of people around the world still do not want to be vaccinated. Some fear needles, others believe in unfounded conspiracy theories and others are worried about possible side effects. Others just do not think it is necessary to be vaccinated, and rather run the chance of getting Covid.
Due to differing opinions, a debate could start in 2021. Should restrictions be imposed on people who prefer not to be vaccinated as they can catch and spread the virus?
This is a tricky topic, but governments are already putting in place systems that allow authorities and possibly businesses to know if someone has had a Covid vaccine or not.
In December, it was revealed that Los Angeles County plans to have recipients of Covid vaccines store proof of vaccination in the Apple Wallet on their iPhone, which can also store tickets and boarding passes in digital form. Officials say it will first be used to remind people to get their second shot of the vaccine, but eventually it could be used to gain access to concert venues or airline flights.
China has launched a health code app that shows if a person is symptom-free to go into a hotel or use the subway. In Chile, citizens recovering from the coronavirus have issued ‘virus-free’ certificates.
On December 28, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said the country would set up a register to indicate who refused to be vaccinated and that the database could be shared in Europe.
Elsewhere, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in April that immunity passports could be used to make kites feel more confident in their personal safety while traveling.
A Ryanair spokesman said ‘vaccination will not be a requirement when Ryanair is flown’ when CNBC asked if it would ever prevent non-vaccinated people from flying with its planes. British Airways, Qantas and easyJet did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Isra Black, a law professor at York University, and Lisa Forsberg, a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University who study medical ethics, told CNBC that ‘it is not easy to say whether it is ethically permissible. is for a state. to impose restrictions “on people who refuse a jab.
The academics emailed in a joint statement that the answer will depend on factors such as the vaccination of the vaccine, the level of vaccination in the population, the nature of the restrictions on vaccines and how the restrictions are implemented .
“We may think that there are strong, though not necessarily decisive, reasons in favor of restricting the recovery of pre-pandemic freedoms for individuals who, for example, refuse Covid-19 vaccination, on their freedom of assembly,” Black said. and Forsberg said. . “There is a possibility that individuals who have not been vaccinated can develop a serious case of coronavirus, which we believe will be bad for them, but it could also adversely affect others, for example if health resources have to be taken away from non-Covid. care.”