China launches COVID-19 ‘vaccine-passport’ to boost travels [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• China has issued the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine passport on Monday, a health certification that contains information such as a person’s vaccination status and latest COVID-19 test results.
• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the strategy was made to bolster the global economy.
• The World Health Organization does not recommend rolling out this kind of project for now.

Based on reports, China has released the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine passport ━ showing a user’s vaccination status, latest COVID-19 test and antibody test results ━ in a bid to boost its travel industry.

The vaccine health certificates kick-started on Monday as Chinese people are encouraged to download them via the social media app WeChat. It is also available in paper form. So far, only about 3.65 percent of the country’s total population has been inoculated.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, the digital certificate would aim to “promote world economic recovery and facilitate cross-border travel.”

“The pandemic is still with us, but the world economy needs to be restarted and people-to-people exchanges resumed with no more delays,” he added.

Responding to the so-called COVID-19 “vaccine passports,” a top World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Monday that it should not be utilized for global travels given the current situation of the pandemic, such that the availability of vaccines in other countries are still elusive.

There are “real practical and ethical considerations” for nations that would consider using such vaccine certification as a ticket to travel, per WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan. He also added that the United Nations’ health agency does not recommend using it as of this time.

“Vaccination is just not available enough around the world and is not available certainly on an equitable basis,” Ryan said.

The agency’s chief also argued that the program could be biased against people who cannot be given the shots due to certain medical conditions. He noted that making vaccine certificates mandatory could potentially allow “inequity and unfairness [to] be further branded into the system.”

Previously, the WHO noted that research is still ongoing about how long the immunity would last from the list of authorized COVID-19 vaccines. 

It is still not known which countries will acknowledge Beijing’s passport.

Source: Fox News