Overseas Travel in the COVID Era: Will the 'Vaccine Passport' Be the Savior? [Im Ju-hyung's Tech Talk]

'Vaccine Passport' Issuing Digital Certificates to COVID-19 Vaccinated Individuals
Vaccination Proof Possible Just by Accessing Smartphone App
International Organizations Like IBM, Commons Project Leading Development
Adoption Movements in EU, Israel, Iceland, and Other Countries
Concerns Over Privacy and Discrimination Against Unvaccinated

Interest is growing in the 'vaccine passport' issued upon proof of COVID-19 vaccination. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] COVID-19 vaccination is scheduled to begin this month. The first recipients will be vulnerable groups at high risk of infection, such as medical personnel and the elderly, but from the third quarter, general adults will also be eligible for vaccination.

As a result, there is growing anticipation that unrestricted overseas travel may be possible at least from the second half of this year. In particular, some Western countries that started COVID-19 vaccinations earlier than Korea are calling for the creation of so-called 'vaccine passports.'

A vaccine passport is a concept that grants special certification allowing only those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine to travel freely abroad. For example, there is a system that verifies vaccination status through a smartphone application (app).

International organizations involving tech companies from countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are already working on building vaccine passports. Notable examples include the 'COVID-19 Credentials Initiative,' which collaborates with over 100 organizations worldwide, the American tech company IBM, and the international vaccine passport development project called the 'Commons Project.'

All these projects share the same goal: to enable proof of vaccination simply by accessing an easy-to-use app.

The key to vaccine passports is enabling automated verification through smartphone applications. / Photo by Yonhap News

In the past, during infectious disease outbreaks, travelers had to present paper vaccination certificates to enter certain high-risk countries.

However, COVID-19 is an unprecedented infectious disease, with the global confirmed cases surpassing 100 million as of the 27th of last month. To end the pandemic, billions of people will need to be vaccinated.

Having each individual present vaccination certificates for inspection at airports would consume enormous labor and time, and could lead to various issues such as forged certificates. For this reason, the development of a digital vaccine passport app has emerged as an alternative.

Vaccine passports are very important for revitalizing the aviation and tourism industries, which have been severely impacted by the pandemic.

Currently, cross-border travel by air is heavily restricted. Countries with severe infection levels or where new coronavirus variants have emerged may impose outright entry bans, and even for general international travel, negative COVID-19 test results and 10 to 14 days of self-quarantine are often mandatory.

On October 5th last year, aircraft were parked at the apron of Incheon International Airport. / Photo by Yonhap News

As a result, demand for overseas travel has plummeted, causing great hardship for airlines and aircraft manufacturers. However, as vaccinations progress and vaccine passports begin to be issued, overseas travel is likely to recover to a significant extent, though not to pre-pandemic levels.

On the other hand, there are many warnings about the side effects of introducing vaccine passports. In particular, the vaccine passport system requires IT systems to access and verify individuals' medical records, raising concerns about privacy violations.

The international civic group 'Big Brother Watch' stated in an interview with the British media outlet The Guardian on the 15th of last month, "Vaccine passports could become the foundation of an oppressive digital ID system," adding, "Governments could easily monitor labor, travel, and medical records, posing a threat to free democratic societies."

There are also concerns that the existence of vaccine passports could divide citizens into 'first-class citizens' who can freely travel abroad and 'second-class citizens' who cannot.

Gloria Guevara, CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, emphasized in an interview with a media outlet on the 11th, "Vaccine passports could become discriminatory policies," and stressed, "We should not create a society where vaccination is required to find a job or travel."

European governments are considering the introduction of vaccine passports. / Photo by Yonhap News

Although debates over the benefits and side effects of vaccine passports continue, some countries have already begun preparing for their introduction. Iceland, a small Nordic country, started issuing 'COVID vaccine certificates' on the 21st of last month.

These certificates are issued to 4,800 people who have completed vaccination, and holders will be exempt from COVID-19 quarantine measures when traveling from Iceland to other countries. To this end, the Icelandic government is negotiating quarantine exemption measures with the European Union (EU), Norway, Switzerland, and others.

The EU Commission also announced on January 19th that it will establish standards related to vaccine passports by the end of this month, and Israel has announced plans to issue vaccination certificates called 'Green Passports' starting in February.

Meanwhile, in Korea, although not a vaccine passport, the issuance of vaccination certificates is under consideration. Previously, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) commissioned a research project on January 13th titled 'Establishment of National Vaccination Implementation Measures for COVID-19,' initiating a detailed study on a system for issuing vaccination certificates.

Lee Seon-gyu, head of the Vaccination Management Division at KDCA, explained at a COVID-19 briefing that day, "Since COVID-19 vaccines differ from general vaccinations in some aspects, we are trying to build a separate system."

However, he added, "This is not linked to vaccine passports but is a generally provided system," and noted, "The government will need to review the possibility of using it as a (vaccine passport)."