China has become the first country in the world to roll out vaccine passports or an international vaccine health certificate. The certificate will be recognised by other countries soon to ease global travelling. The new passport will show a complete detail of a traveller’s Coronavirus history. The passport will also have nucleic acid and antibody test results. On Monday, China launched a WeChat programme wherein citizens can register for the certificate.
The announcement of the initiative was made by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a press conference. The passport will be made available in digital as well as paper format. With this, the government is hoping to promote world economic recovery and facilitate overseas travel
Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “The pandemic is still with us, but the world economy needs to be restarted and people-to-people exchanges resumed with no more delays”.
Besides China, countries such as Denmark and Sweden are also developing their own health passports. In Britain, around 200000 people have signed a petition to introduce a vaccine certificate
On the other hand, the International Air Travel Association, with 290 airline members, is planning to introduce a travel app that will permit immigration authorities and airlines to collect and share travellers’ vaccination and COVID-19 test results.
According to China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the country will reach herd immunity by the middle of next year as by then 80 percent of its population will be vaccinated.