If I don’t get the vaccine, I can’t go abroad? Started development of US-EU’vaccine passport’

Following the United Kingdom and the United States, major advanced countries such as the European Union (EU) 27 countries have begun vaccination against the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), while developing a’vaccine passport’ centering on these countries is also speeding up. Is paying. The’vaccinated passport’ is used as proof of getting vaccinated when crossing borders or participating in large international events.

The problem is that there is a gap between countries in the size and speed of vaccination, which raises concerns that the’vaccine divide’ could intensify. Nationals of countries who get the vaccine quickly are given a’free pass’, but it can be a barrier to exchanges in countries where vaccination is late.

According to CNN broadcasting on the 27th (local time), the Commons Project and the World Economic Forum (WEF), a non-profit organization in Geneva, Switzerland, have started developing a’digital certificate’ application that can prove vaccination when going to public places or crossing borders. The plan is to enable people who have received the vaccine to be certified by a medical institution, upload a record of the vaccine for the Corona 19 test in the’Common Pass’ app, and use it as a means of evidence.

According to the development plan, called the “Common Trust Network,” the app will issue medical certificates or passes that can be presented to health authorities in the form of QR codes. When you enter your itinerary, you will also see a list of proofs required according to your departure and destination. It can be used not only when crossing the border, but also when entering a movie theater, concert hall, or stadium.

Major airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Swiss Airlines, and JetBlue are participating in the development of vaccine passports, as well as hundreds of medical corporations.

Thomas Cramton, PR director of the Commons Project, explained, “To travel to Africa, the vaccine passport will become a’digital yellow paper,’ just as you have to submit a yellow fever vaccination certificate,’yellow paper’.”

Multinational technology (IT) companies are also developing their own apps. According to CNN, IBM has developed an app called “Digital Health Pass,” which allows you to set up fever tests, Corona 19 tests, and vaccination records. It was developed to be used for admission to conference halls, concert halls, and stadiums.

‘Linux Foundation Public Health’, a non-profit organization in the United States, has also started to develop a standard form of digital vaccine certificates with Common Pass and IBM. To this end, it has also agreed to cooperate with the’Covid-19 Credentials Initiative’, which is a group of dozens of related organizations from five continents in addition to the Common Pass. Brian Velendorf, managing director of the Linux Foundation, said the standardization “must be interoperable with other countries such as email and web.”

According to Bloomberg News in the United States, as of the 27th, the number of people vaccinated worldwide is estimated at 4.2 million. Most are American and British nationals who started vaccination early. In the United States, the number of vaccinations exceeded 2 million, and in the UK, more than 625,000 people received the Pfizer vaccine by the 24th. As large-scale vaccinations began on the 27th in the EU, the number of people receiving the vaccine is expected to increase rapidly until the first half of next year.

If vaccination is done as scheduled, Western countries and wealthy Arab countries will quickly reach the level of’collective immunity’, and citizens will also be issued a’vaccine passport’ to enable economic activities. However, in countries with insufficient vaccine availability or late introduction, there may be a’vaccine divide’, which is relatively limited in activity.

In fact, in France, people who have not been vaccinated are trying to restrict the use of public transportation, and in the case of Qantas in Australia, they are planning to ban unvaccinated travelers from boarding.

Even in Korea, where vaccinations start in February-March next year, there are concerns that a vaccine passport could be a’barrier’.

Jae-wook Choi, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University’s medical school, said, “Someday we will be vaccinated, but it will be unavoidable that there will be a gap for 6 months or longer.” Concerns that this will intensify have also been addressed at the World Health Organization (WHO) level.”

Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious medicine at Korea University, said, “According to the government announcement, we have secured 10 million AstraZeneca (within the first half). By the time the Tokyo Olympics in July of next year are held, the gap between countries that are close to collective immunity and countries that still need to distance themselves may become apparent.”

Reporter Jeong Eun-hye [email protected]