The first digital “vaccine passports” for post-pandemic travel were designed as easy-to-use apps that will one day merge on other travel platforms, like airline apps, say their developers.
Although popularly known as vaccine passports, the applications also include information such as the status of the Covid-19 test and are being tested in several places around the world.
Of course, the trusted traveler program that helps passengers get through airport security more quickly is testing a Covid-19 vaccination test or verification app on some flights to Hawaii as part of a pilot program with the state. Clear’s Health Pass app is already being used by some sports leagues and museums to check ticket holders’ Covid-19 status, the company said.
Other organizations, such as the non-profit Commons Project Foundation and the International Air Transport Association or IATA, are introducing their own applications that also aim to allow passengers to quickly prove that they have undergone the Covid-19 test or the necessary vaccination to cross the border. The applications would prevent travelers from uploading health documents to the immigration website of each destination country.
Of course, the Commons Project and IATA are just part of a broad group of companies – including large technology companies – developing digital products to allow people to safely share their Covid-19 negative or vaccinated status for entry into a country, stadium or other public space.
As many people continue to encounter obstacles when trying to schedule an appointment to be vaccinated, health pass designers are intent on providing a more relaxed experience for the next step.
“We are really focusing on simplicity from day one,” said Alan Murray Hayden, head of airport, passenger and security products at IATA, which has American Airlines and Emirates among its members. “So much so that when I introduced the Travel Pass to our senior management, I was afraid that they would say, ‘We gave you all that money and you only have five or six application screens to show for it’. “
Requirements to prove vaccination status or a negative Covid-19 test to enter countries like Seychelles and Cyprus can lead to longer queues and delays, as airport staff manually check passengers’ health paperwork. Digital health passes will not be mandatory for airline passengers, Murray Hayden said, but their gradual adoption will provide a kind of “herd immunity to queues” at the airport.
Clear’s Health Pass provides a QR code to be scanned at the departure gate. If a passenger’s health status authorizes him or her to travel, the application screen will light up in green.
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clear
“If we can get 70% of customers away from dispatchers, dispatchers can focus on helping those people who don’t have a phone or are not used to the technology,” he said.
Health pass applications aim to guide users through the step-by-step data entry process and keep the amount of information they need to enter to a minimum, in part by investing in features like passport chip scanning.
Some, like the Clear app, also use back-end networks to automatically link a user’s Covid-19 status to their selected vaccine or test center. The technology aims to make the pre-flight experience less stressful for customers, said Caryn Seidman Becker, president and CEO of Clear, which is operated by Alclear LLC. And obtaining a passenger’s Covid-19 status directly from a healthcare provider – instead of uploading the users themselves – can prevent sharing of vaccination certificates or fraudulent test results, she said.
The Travel Pass, an application developed by the International Air Transport Association, includes a feature that scans the user’s passport chip to obtain their information.
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IATA
Users of the Clear’s Health Pass, which is integrated with the company’s main application, but available for free even to those who do not pay for Clear, receive a QR code to be scanned at the gate after linking their account to the test or vaccine information and the airline they are flying with.
CommonPass, the Commons Project application, also produces a QR code for scanning at the gate, although it hopes that airlines will eventually be able to integrate the passenger’s verified fit-to-fly status into the barcode on their boarding pass.
The Commons Project and IATA said they also plan to offer the architecture of their health passes to developers of other applications, such as those of airlines, once the user experience of the first versions has been tested and refined. Clear, meanwhile, is in discussions to incorporate its Health Pass platform into the applications of its partner companies, said Seidman Becker.
Although phrases like “vaccine passport” and “health passport” have become commonplace, CommonPass has been inspired more by boarding passes than passports, said Kathryn Tucker, co-founder and director of marketing for the nonprofit, whose goal is to build digital products for users often overlooked by major technology companies. The final screen of the application is shaped like a boarding pass, complete with a digital tear-off paper.
In part, the Commons Project wanted its design to show that someone’s Covid-19 test status, still a key use for applications even with increased vaccination, reflects a moment in time, she said.
“Unlike a passport, a document with which you have had a decade-long relationship, boarding passes come and go, accumulate on your phone and are intended to be more utilitarian,” she said. “We also like the use of this metaphor to underline that this is a basic document that is exchanged between your phone and the airline agent or border agent only.”
Write to Katie Deighton at [email protected]
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