“Since you have already had COVID-19 will you be taking the vaccine?”
This is a valid question and one needs to consider for the future. It is still early to know if getting the two shots from with Pfizer or Moderna will stop you from being contagious – according to the CDC people with the 2 shots 95% chance of getting COVID and we would assume to contract it again.
The question is should there be a Digital version of The Who Yellow Immunization card many of us grew up with. I remember having a painful Yellow Fever shot and gamma globulin (to boost immune response (a huge shot in your butt that lasted several days when I went to Nigeria in 1981. In 1983 Chris and our two children got typhoid, tetanus, Hepatitis A gamma globulin (to boost immune response (a huge shot in your butt that lasted several days – in 1981 I had it at the last minute and spent hours with a painful lump to sit on. In each case we would have to show the Yellow Card to get into these countries.
Perhaps a digital health passport is similar? Some airlines are already changing terms for international passengers and are asking passengers to have the COVID vaccine before boarding the aircraft. QANTUS, KOREAN AIR, JETBLUE, LUFTHANSA, UNITED, SWISS, VIRGIN and CATHY PACIFIC have trialed The Common Pass on selected flights which “lets individuals demonstrate their COVID status. Korea may use such a health passport to allow travelers immediate entry without quarantine.
All of these efforts revolve around having a secure and verifiable way to document a travelers health status as we travel and cross borders.
There are several health passports underdevelopment that would link to data of test status and or Vaccine certificate which is shown both before getting on the flight and when arriving in another country. The International Chamber of Commerce has the AOKpass, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has their IATA Travel Pass under development. It is clear that the documents given by say the National Health Service in the UK will not be in the form acceptable for travel.
