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England To Launch A Vaccine Passport Of Sorts Next Week

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It’s an imperfect and perhaps rushed solution, but the United Kingdom’s existing National Health Service (NHS) app will double as a “vaccine passport” for fully vaccinated residents of England beginning Monday.

That happens to be the date when the UK’s ban on foreign travel is lifted, and British holidaymakers will once again be allowed to take trips abroad.

“Being able to show that you’ve had a jab is going to be necessary for people to be able to travel,” British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News. “So we want to make sure people can get access to that proof, not least to show governments of other countries that you’ve had the jab if they require that in order to arrive.”

Residents across the UK can already use the NHS app to refill prescriptions, arrange appointments to see their doctor and view their medical records. Now the app is being adapted to include vaccine verification.

“Demonstrating your Covid-19 vaccination status allows you to show others that you’ve had a full course of the Covid-19 vaccine when traveling abroad to some countries or territories,” according to the NHS website. “A full course is currently 2 doses of any approved vaccine.”

As “vaccine passports” go, the NHS app will have some notable limitations as the first British travelers set off on international trips this year.

While all four UK countries — England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland — have been discussing a joint digital system, initially only residents of England aged 13 and up will be able to use the vaccine verification feature of the NHS app.

While the NHS app is already equipped to display vaccine statuses, including Covid-19 vaccination status, this feature must be enabled by an individual’s doctor before it appears on the app.

The app will eventually also show Covid-19 test results, but that feature will not be available next week. The NHS website advises that people register to use the app at least two weeks before traveling.

For people without access to a smartphone, a paper vaccine certification will also be available. English residents can call the NHS helpline to request it at least five days after a second vaccine dose and can take five days to arrive.

As the summer travel season approaches, support for vaccine passports is extremely high around the world, with nearly eight in 10 adults (78%) across 28 countries agreeing that Covid-19 vaccine passports should be required of travelers to enter their country.

Yet without a universally accepted standard, countries are scrambling to get digital health certification programs in place — both to allow their citizens to travel and to verify the health status of incoming tourists.

In some cases, that means developing a digital health verification app from scratch. Israel’s Green Pass has been in use since February. Next month, the European Union will roll out its Digital Green Certificate, which will allow travelers to provide digital proof of vaccination against Covid-19, recent negative Covid test results or proof of recovery from Covid-19. In the meantime, the EU has proposed easing travel restrictions on foreign citizens who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Other countries are adapting existing apps to incorporate Covid-19 vaccination verification. For example, Canada will modify its ArriveCAN app, which was introduced in April 2020 to help travelers comply with border measures. It already allows people entering Canada to provide digital proof of Covid-19 test results.

More than eight in 10 Britons (84%) agree (including 59% who strongly agree) that all travelers entering Great Britain should be required to have a vaccine passport, according to a new Ipsos survey. Comparatively, a smaller majority of Americans (71%) agree that travelers should be required to show a vaccine passport before entering the United States.

About three in four (74%) Britons agree that vaccine passports would be effective in making travel and large events safe, which is in line with the global average of 73%, and significantly more than in the United States, where 61% agree.

It is not clear when the other three countries in the United Kingdom will be accessing the NHS app’s newest feature.

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