Brendan McDermid | Reuters
LONDON – A Covid digital vaccination passport is being jointly developed by a group of health and technology companies that expect governments, airlines and other companies to soon start asking people for proof that they have been vaccinated.
A coalition known as the Vaccination Credential Initiative – which includes Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle, as well as the U.S. health-care nonprofit Mayo Clinic – was announced Thursday.
The VCI said it wants to develop technology that allows individuals to obtain an encrypted digital copy of their immunization data that can be stored in a digital wallet of their choice, such as the Apple Wallet or Google Pay. It suggested that anyone without a smartphone could receive paper printed with QR codes with verifiable credentials.
The coalition said it will also try to develop new standards to confirm whether or not a person has been vaccinated against the virus. Citizens used to use vaccination booklets to keep track of their travel vaccines, but authorities rarely ask to see them.
“The goal of the Vaccination Credential Initiative is to give individuals digital access to their vaccination data,” Paul Meyer, CEO of the coalition’s nonprofit The Commons Project, said in a statement.
He added that the technology should enable people to “return safely to travel, work, school and life, while protecting their data privacy.”
Bill Patterson, an executive vice president and general manager at enterprise software company Salesforce, said his company wants to help organizations “adapt all aspects of the vaccination management lifecycle and integrate closely with the offerings of other coalition members, which will help us all get back. turn to public life. “
“With a single platform to deliver safe and continuous operations and deepen trust with customers and employees, this coalition will be critical to support public health and wellness,” added Patterson.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Vaccine divides opinion
While many people cannot wait to protect themselves from the virus, some are adamant that they will not get the shot, leaving populations divided into those who have been vaccinated and those who have not. In the UK, one in five say they are unlikely to receive the vaccine, according to YouGov research published in November, citing several reasons.
Millions of people around the world still don’t want to be vaccinated, according to polls. Some fear needles, some believe unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, and some worry about potential side effects. Others simply don’t think it necessary to get vaccinated and would rather be at risk of getting Covid.
As a result of the differing views, a debate could arise in 2021. Should restrictions be placed on people who choose not to get vaccinated as they can catch and spread the virus?
It’s a tricky topic, but governments are already introducing systems that allow authorities, and possibly businesses, to tell whether someone has had a Covid vaccine or not.
In December, it emerged that Los Angeles County plans to allow recipients of Covid vaccines to store proof of immunization in the Apple Wallet on their iPhone, which can also store tickets and boarding passes in digital form. Officials say it will first be used to remind people to get their second injection of the vaccine, but it could eventually be used to access concert venues or airline flights.
China has launched a health code app that shows whether a person is symptom-free to check into a hotel or use the metro. In Chile, citizens recovered from the coronavirus have received “virus-free” certificates.
On December 28, Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa said the country will create a registry to show who has refused to be vaccinated and that the database can be shared across Europe.
Elsewhere, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in April that immunity passports could be used to give pilots more confidence in their personal safety while traveling.
A Ryanair spokesman said that “vaccination will not be a requirement when flying Ryanair” when CNBC asked if it would ever prevent unvaccinated people from flying his plane. British Airways, Qantas and easyJet did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Isra Black, a law professor at the University of York, and Lisa Forsberg, a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University who researches medical ethics, told CNBC that it is “ not easy to say whether it would be ethically permissible for a state. to impose restrictions “on people who refuse a shot.
The academics said in a joint email statement that the response will depend on factors such as vaccine supply, the population’s vaccination level, the nature of the restrictions for vaccine refusers and how the restrictions are operationalized.
“We might think that there are strong, if not necessarily overriding, reasons for a restriction on regaining pre-pandemic freedoms for individuals who refuse vaccination for Covid-19, for example over their freedom to collect,” said Black and Forsberg. . “Unvaccinated individuals could contract a serious case of coronavirus, which we believe would be bad for them, but could also negatively impact others, for example if health resources have to be diverted from non-Covid care.”