Vaccine Passports: Will it be a reality..?

While the entire world was brought to its knees due to the COVID-19 pandemic nations across the globe are reeling under the pressure of whether to introduce ‘Vaccine Passports.’

The vaccine drive has been ramped in many nations in order to get life back to normalcy and make travel safe again. However, the confusion is still prevalent in a large way as to whether or not the opening of borders for all travellers would be safe. Some countries are opening gradually based on health reports while some are still apprehensive. The question being how does a government consider the need of an individual versus an entire society?

“Vaccine Passports are electronic documents that show proof of vaccination of the individual against COVID-19.”

Canada has been marred by controversies as to whether or not to introduce Vaccine Passports? Dialogues and debates have been underway for the past few months regarding this. Canada currently doesn’t have a policy on Vaccine Passports to structure international travel.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has indicated that Vaccine Passports are ‘to be expected in a few months. The constant debate around Canada is whether or not to introduce Vaccine Passports for daily life and international travel.

“As was the case pre-pandemic, certificates of vaccination is a part of international travel to certain regions and are naturally to be expected when it comes to this pandemic and the Corona Virus,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference last month.

Meanwhile, countries like Israel require proof of vaccination for everyday life and the European Union is planning to open its countries to vaccinated Americans this summer. The 27 member states of the European Union, France, Italy and Spain are going to reopen its borders to vaccinated international travellers this summer, which was confirmed by an EU spokesperson. This plan has no mandatory quarantine, negative COVID-19 test or any other form of restrictions.

Marco Mendicino, Canada’s Immigration Minister said “discussions around setting a universal standard for vaccinations to promote the safe travel of those who have been vaccinated.”

Leger, a leading Canadian market research and analytics company conducted a survey recently where 61 percent of Canadians are in support of the Government’s decision of bringing proof of vaccination for public gatherings, a bigger majority of 64 percent supported Vaccine Passport to attend a gathering, 79 percent of the participants want Vaccine Passport for domestic travel and international travel and 82 percent wanted non-Canadians entering the country to have a Vaccine passport or proof of vaccination.

Canada’s privacy commissioners on Wednesday said the country is outlining strict guidelines for the introduction of passports because they would be “an encroachment on civil liberties that should be taken only after careful consideration.”

Privacy Concern

Vaccine Passport on the other hand has raised questions about privacy which concerns an individual’s personal details. Vaccine Passports may be forged, hackers may hack the details are some of the legitimate concerns.

Will Canada introduce the much-required Vaccine Passports like many countries? More or less it is more likely that Vaccine Passports or some proof of vaccination might come into effect in the near future.

Vaccine Passports