EU commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas told the Daily Mail it was “perfectly imaginable that this can open avenues for other use, including facilitating travel.”
“We feel that now this is the time for these vaccine certificates to be recognized across the European Union, and even beyond the European Union,” he added.
EU Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, is claiming that the bloc is in “active discussion” about how to implement a health related passport.
It isn’t hard to imagine the EU setting a standard for mandatory vaccine passports as numerous European countries have already committed to issuing such a document to its citizens for the purpose of travel.
Spain and Poland are the latest countries to announce that vaccine passports/certificates will be issued to those who receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
The United Kingdom is currently trialing a similar document in select areas of Britain.
The London Telegraph reporting last week that biometrics firm iProov and cybersecurity firm Mvine have developed a vaccine passport which will be optionally provided as a smart phone app for Brits vaccinated against COVID-19.
Denmark, Israel, Russia, and the Canadian Province of Ontario have also either announced a vaccine passport or that they are exploring the idea.
Airlines have also been very vocal about issuing a vaccine passport for travelers. In fact, Singapore Airlines in December became first major carrier to introduce a digital health certificate to verify passengers’ testing history and vaccination status.
London doctor Richard Dawood, who is cited by the Daily Telegraph as a “leading travel health expert”, says that vaccine passports are now “ultimately unavoidable.”
“Regardless of how any of us feel about the idea of ‘vaccine passports’ for travel, they will ultimately be unavoidable,” Dawood said, adding:
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