To restart the international travel industry, China has issued the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine passport, which shows the user’s vaccination status, recent results of coronavirus tests and results of antibody tests, according to reports.
Although only 3.65% of China’s population has been vaccinated, vaccine health certificates were released on Monday for Chinese citizens to download on the social media platform WeChat.
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Travelers wearing protective masks use their smartphones to scan a QR code before entering Beijing International Airport in China on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. (Yan Cong / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The certificate is also available on paper and is not yet mandatory.
The digital certificate will “promote global economic recovery and facilitate international travel,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.
Lijian added: “The pandemic is still with us, but the world economy needs to be restarted and interpersonal exchanges resumed without further delay.”
It is not clear which countries will recognize the passport.
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Travelers wearing protective masks take their luggage through Beijing International Airport in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. (Yan Cong / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A senior World Health Organization official said on Monday that so-called “vaccine passports” for COVID-19 should not be used for international travel due to numerous concerns, including ethical consideration that coronavirus vaccines are not readily available globally.
WHO emergency chief Dr Michael Ryan said there are “real practical and ethical considerations” for countries that are considering using vaccine certification as a condition for travel, adding that the UN health agency advises for now .
“Vaccination is simply not available enough worldwide and is certainly not available on an equitable basis,” said Ryan.
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Travelers wearing protective masks push their luggage outside Beijing International Airport in China on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. (Yan Cong / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The WHO noted earlier that it is not yet known how long the immunity of the numerous licensed COVID-19 vaccines lasts and that data is still being collected.
Ryan also noted that the strategy can be unfair to people who cannot be vaccinated for certain reasons and that requiring vaccine passports can allow “injustice and injustice [to] be further marked in the system. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.