vaccine passports during the covid-19 pandemic vaccine passports during the covid-19 pandemic a vaccine passport or proof of vaccination is an immunity passport employed as a credential in countries and jurisdictions as part of efforts to control the covid-19 pandemic via vaccination. a vaccine passport is typically issued by a government or health authority, and usually consists of a digital or printed record. some credentials may include a scannable qr code, which can also be provisioned via mobile app. it may or may not use a covid-19 vaccine card as a basis of authentication. an eu green pass in digital format being scanned before entering a bistro in parma, italy part of a series on thecovid-19 pandemicscientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of sars-cov-2. each "ball" is an atom. covid-19 (disease) sars-cov-2 (virus) cases deaths timeline 2019 2020 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2021 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2022 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november december 2023 january february march april may locations by country and territory africa antarctica asia europe north america oceania south america by conveyance cruise ships naval ships international response endemic phase evacuations face masks international aid investigations into origin lockdowns by country misinformation by governments fake treatments social distancing software travel united nations world health organization wto ip waiver undercounting of deaths covid-19 apps zero-covid national responses africa china european union germany ghana india ireland netherlands new zealand nigeria philippines russia sweden uk government us federal government vietnam medical response disease testing breathalyzer development drug development drug repurposing public health mitigation vaccines history research vitt deployment authorizations operation warp speed misinformation and hesitancy us vaccine card vaccine passports current vaccines coronavac covaxin convidecia janssen medigen moderna novavax oxford–astrazeneca pfizer–biontech sinopharm bibp sputnik v variants variants of concern alpha beta gamma delta omicron other variants epsilon zeta eta theta iota kappa lambda mu cluster 5 lineage b.1.617 economic impact and recession arts and culture aviation cannabis cinema films disney fashion financial markets food industry food security journalism music performing arts retail shipping television us sportscasting programs tourism video games by country canada india ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us by sport association football baseball basketball combat sports cricket disc golf gaelic games gridiron football ice hockey motorsport rugby league impacts animals black people crime death rates by country disability domestic violence emergency evacuations education female environment hospitals language lgbt community long-term care media coverage mental health symptoms migration military notable deaths other health issues politics diplomacy popular culture protests pregnancy prisons religion catholic church hajj science and technology social media strikes suicides telehealth xenophobia and racism society ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us covid-19 portal the use of vaccine passports is based on the general presumption that a vaccinated individual would be less likely to transmit sars-cov-2 to others, and less likely to experience a severe outcome (hospitalization or death) if they were to be infected, thus making it relatively safer for them to congregate. a vaccine passport is typically coordinated with policies enforced by individual businesses, or enforceable public health orders, that require patrons to present proof of vaccination for covid-19 as a condition of entry or service. government-mandated use of vaccine passports typically applies to discretionary public spaces and events (such as indoor restaurants, bars, or large-scale in-person events, such as concerts and sports), and not essential businesses, such as retail stores or health care. in france, italy, ireland, and canada, vaccine uptake increased after various levels of governments announced plans to introduce vaccine passports. an intention by some jurisdictions is to prevent future lockdowns and restrictions. despite evidence that vaccination improves economic and social problems caused by the pandemic, vaccine passports are controversial and have raised scientific, ethical and legal concerns. critics have also argued that vaccine passports violate civil liberties via coercion. in the united states, there is no vaccine passport at a federal level, and some us states have preemptively banned vaccine passports in certain public and private sector contexts, citing discrimination and privacy concerns. england initially decided against mandating vaccine passports due to worries that discrimination and economic harm would occur, but later joined the other nations of the united kingdom in mandating vaccine passports due to the threat of the omicron variant. history and background share of people who have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine relative to a country's total population. date is at the bottom of the map. many governments including finland, and germany, expressed early interest in the concept. vaccine passports were seen as a potential way to permit a faster economic recovery from large-scale lockdowns that apply to all residents (especially within the travel and tourism industries), improve the confidence of patrons concerned for their health and safety, and to incentivize vaccination in order for a population to potentially reach "herd immunity". in may 2020, chile started issuing "release certificates" to patients who had recovered from covid-19, but "the documents will not yet certify immunity". many governments including finland, germany, the united kingdom, and the united states expressed interest in the concept. the royal society published a report on 19 february 2021 where a lead author of the report, professor melinda mills, director of the leverhulme centre for demographic science at the university of oxford said: “understanding what a vaccine passport could be used for is a fundamental question – is it literally a passport to allow international travel or could it be used domestically to allow holders greater freedoms? the intended use will have significant implications across a wide range of legal and ethical issues that need to be fully explored and could inadvertently discriminate or exacerbate existing inequalities.” the report lists 12 essential criteria for an international standard. on 12 march 2021, ecma international announced its intention to create an international standard which prevents counterfeits and protects private data as much as possible in a "call for participation on vaccine passports international standardization" that referenced the earlier report from the uk's royal society. in august 2021, ecma international announced revisions to ecma-417 (architectures for distributed real-time access systems) relevant to standards for vaccine passports. an early advocate of immunity passports during the covid-19 pandemic was sam rainsy, the cambodian opposition leader. in exile and under confinement in paris, he proposed immunity passports as a way to help restart the economy in a series of articles which he began in march 2020 and published in the geopolitics and the brussels times. the proposals were also published in french. the idea became increasingly relevant as evidence of lasting acquired immunity became clear. proponents of the idea such as sam rainsy, co-founder of the opposition cambodia national rescue party (cnrp) have argued that immunity, whether acquired naturally or through vaccination, is a resource which needs to be used to limit the impact of the pandemic on the global economy. many people in cambodia depend entirely for their living on a tourism industry which has been wiped out. poor countries can also benefit from recording immunological status as this will reduce wastage of scarce vaccines. the immunity passport proposed by rainsy was effectively adopted in the eu under the name of "health pass". as of 4 april 2021, it was not yet clear whether vaccinated people that remain asymptomatic are still contagious and are thus silent spreaders of the virus putting unvaccinated people at risk. "a lot of people are thinking that once they get vaccinated, they’re not going to have to wear masks anymore," said michal tal, an immunologist at stanford university. "it’s really going to be critical for them to know if they have to keep wearing masks, because they could still be contagious." in january 2021, israel announced that israelis who had received their second vaccination and those who had proof of recovery from infection would be eligible for a green pass, exempting them from isolation requirements and mandatory covid-19 tests, including those on arrival from overseas. in february 2021, israel became one of the first countries to implement a vaccine passport system, dubbed the green pass. they are required in order to access venues such as gyms, hotels, bars, and restaurants. in october 2021, israel announced an update to its guidelines, requiring that the most recent vaccine dose (or proof of recovery) to have been during the past six months. this change made israel the first country to make a booster shot a requirement for its vaccine passport system. by region