Are digital health passports a good idea?
Are digital health passports a good idea?

Are digital health passports a good idea?

Digital tools to certify immunity from Covid-19 could help ease lockdowns, but raise equality and privacy concerns.
Jo-Mare Duddy Booysen
Umberto Bacchi - The European Union put the finishing touches this week to its plans for a Covid-19 certificate to ease travel across the 27-nation bloc and kickstart tourism at the start of the peak summer season.

As vaccination campaigns progress across the continent, governments have been exploring how documents, mostly digital, could help reopen borders by identifying people who are protected against the coronavirus.

Under the EU pass programme signed into law this week, restriction-free travel would be possible for people who have been fully vaccinated and for those who can show a negative Covid-19 test or immunity after recovering from the disease.

The system will be launched in July, but 13 member states, including Greece, Germany and Poland, have already started issuing the documents, which are free of charge and available in a digital and paper-based format.

As more technology firms develop digital certificates that can be accessed on smartphones by employers, airlines and others, here is all you need to know about health passports and certificates.

PASS

The term health passport, or health pass, generally refers to documents - in paper or digital format - that certify a person is unlikely to either catch or spread a disease.

With the coronavirus, the proposed certificates would attest one of three things: that the holder has been vaccinated, has tested negative for the virus or has recovered from it.

Their use could allow governments to lift some pandemic-induced restrictions, allowing people to travel in planes, attend concerts, go to work or dine out, supporters say.

TRIALED

Different health passes have been trialed by countries around the world, from Bahrain to the Baltic, where Estonia and Lithuania are among the first nations to start using the "EU Digital Covid Certificate".

China introduced an app-based system that uses travel and medical data to give people a rating indicating the likelihood of them having the virus, while in India everyone who gets the jab will get a QR code-based electronic certificate, the government said.

In Israel, anyone vaccinated or having recovered from Covid-19 with presumed immunity is issued with health ministry "Green Pass" certificates that grant access to various leisure venues, and Denmark has launched a similar "corona-passport".

The Nordic country has also already joined the EU certificate scheme.

DIGITAL

Global airline body IATA said this month that a digital travel pass for Covid-19 test results and vaccine certifications would go live in the coming weeks following a testing phase.

The mobile application, which has been tested by some airlines, was originally designed to facilitate passenger screening at the airport check-in and aircraft boarding stages.

However, IATA says it has since modified the app for when passengers are also checked by immigration officers on arrival.

Earlier this year, big tech companies including Microsoft Corp, Oracle Corp and healthcare companies Cigna Corp and Mayo Clinic in January become part of a coalition pushing for digital records of people who get vaccinated against Covid-19.

MAIN CONCERNS

So-called immunity passports, which allow greater freedom to those who have recovered from Covid-19, could encourage some people to try to catch the virus, health experts have warned.

Vaccination certificates are already regulated by international law, which allows countries to require from travellers proof of vaccination for diseases such as yellow fever or polio as a condition of entry.

But extending the system to Covid-19 could face hurdles, with governments having to agree on which of the vaccines they accept, Alexandra Phelan, an infectious disease expert at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., said earlier this year.

Linking travel to a vaccination could also leave a large part of the world grounded as developing countries struggle to access sufficient vaccine supplies for their populations, Phelan said at the time. – Nampa/Reuters

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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European Championships Qualifying: Millwall FC 1 vs 1 West Bromwich Albion | Bristol City 1 vs 0 Leicester City English Championship: Millwall FC 1 vs 1 West Bromwich Albion | Bristol City 1 vs 0 Leicester City Katima Mulilo: 19° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 29° Eenhana: 19° | 29° Oshakati: 21° | 30° Ruacana: 20° | 33° Tsumeb: 19° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 29° Omaruru: 19° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Gobabis: 17° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 20° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:22, High tide: 05:24, Low Tide: 23:26, High tide: 17:46 Swakopmund: 16° | 17° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:22, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:44 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:21, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:43 Rehoboth: 19° | 30° Mariental: 23° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 35° Aranos: 22° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 24° | 35° Oranjemund: 14° | 25° Luanda: 27° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 26° Mbabane: 16° | 21° Maseru: 11° | 29° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 27° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Cape Town: 17° | 28° Durban: 20° | 24° Johannesburg: 16° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 20° | 30° Harare: 16° | 29° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.8 | EUR to NAD 20.35 | CNY to NAD 2.61 | USD to NAD 18.87 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.77 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.39 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1303.34 | USD to ZAR 18.88 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - 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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%