Denmark and Sweden Working on Digital Vaccination Passports

Read it again....lt's for people living in their own country. Not for people visiting.

"
The two Nordic countries both said the certificates would be designed to enable citizens to travel aboard."

And they can't even spell correctly.

Instead of using an Indian news source, here 's how one Swedish news organization reported on it:

https://www.thelocal.se/20210204/sweden-to-introduce-digital-vaccine-passport

This is what happens when people get an idea but don't understand it. Once international standards are agreed upon, each country will issue a vaccine passport for its own citizens. You won't have to apply for one for every country you want to visit. But there has to be an international standard so every country can recognize each others.

I know. I'm interested in Sweden's effort because of the technical work they'll be doing. To be really useful for travelers, I think there needs to be one system, or multiple systems need to communicate with each other.

Wouldn’t it be great if current physical passports could be easily updated to bear the vaccination verification?

I'd had multiple visas inserted in my passport... initially, why not simply have an "inoculation visa? The inoculation stations could print these "vaccination visas" with the date, type of vaccine, etc, and insert them into your passport - then, make them official with a notary type stamp. Granted, it's a short-term fix and there are lots of issues - adding more logistics to the vaccine process and when you need to renew your passport... but perhaps by then, we'd have an agreed-upon international standard.

I'm glad to hear thoughts are heading this way. It's good to know progress is being made. Thanks for sharing the news.

Its nice countries want to know who is vaccinated. However, I have been under the impression you can be infected even though you are vaccinated. The vaccination simply lowers the severe impact of the virus on you just like a flu vaccine. Friends who are doctors have stated as such. This is not a small pox type of vaccination. So does this mean proof of testing will always be required?

Thank you acraven.

Israel has something similar. I have a digital certificate called a "green passport." It's issued by the state, has the dates of my shots, is valid for 6 months beginning one week after my second shot (Pfizer). It also has my Israeli ID number and passport number. The idea was to allow people who've been vaccinated to be able to do things that other people can't, may attend performances or dine in restaurants, but so far "it don't mean a thing." Some of the govt are pushing the idea as an incentive to get more people vaccinated - we are rapidly approaching the stage at which everyone who wanted a vaccine got one and now we will have more doses than willing arms!! Currently anyone over 16 who wants the vaccine can make an appt to get it.

The "green passport" may turn out to be just another good intention with no plan and no practical use.

This Telegraph article about vaccination passports includes quotes from folks in several countries and speculation about possible implementation of vaccination passports:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/07/freedom-and-fairness-covid-vaccine-passport-plans-cause-global-unease

From this morning's Washington Post - looks like the US too is actively working on Vaccination Passports

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/28/vaccine-passports-for-work/

No options for those of us who aren't interested in a vaccine?

I'm not an anti-vaccer. I have a shot record a mile long from my career in the military. If I were 65, I'd already have the shingles and pneumonia vaccines (relates to my insurance. I may pay out of pocket to get shingles now).

Then why no COVID vaccine? At the risk of being charged with blasphemy, here's why:

• What do I expect would happen if I got COVID? Not much. I had it last March. I was sick but the illness wasn't even in my top ten, 20 or even 100 illnesses in my life. I had worse back when the military used to give us active flu shots (to keep us from getting the flu on their time).

• What value does the vaccine hold for me? None, I already had COVID. Why do I need a shot to give me antibodies I already have? CDC says, if you get the vaccine, you can still get COVID and you can still spread it. You still should wear a mask and social distance. I don't see any value.

• Would I ever get the COVID vaccine? Yes, when I think a flu could kill me, I'd certainly want the vaccine. CDC numbers show people over 85 have roughly 96 percent survival rate (that's not separating out people with comorbidities). Between 65 and 85? 98 percent. Between 40 and 65? 99 percent. Below 40 virtually no risk (even with comorbidities). Obviously healthy people have a significantly better prognosis than those with severe comorbidities.

From the Washington Post today:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/06/joe-biden-live-updates/#link-A2YRAV5ZQ5GVPKGCLPOASGU3GE
"White House press secretary Jen Psaki batted down the suggestion that the Biden administration was eying a national vaccine verification card, saying unequivocally that the president would not support that.
“The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential,” Psaki said. “There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.”

I don't see much relationship between what European countries are doing and what the US is doing, which is constantly dismantling the idea of some uniform, standardized vaccine credential or travel passport.

I got my vaccine passport! Turns out I've had it since I was an infant:

https://imgur.com/a/h0gbFdM

Anyone else have one of these, that have been around for quite some time now?

On the one hand I can understand and appreciate being wary when it comes to something like a vaccine passport in terms of equitable access and treatment and civil liberties, but on the other they've already been required for travel to a lot of places (and even to the US from a number of places) for some time. Further, if you're in the United States at least, you're likely already in your own state's vaccination database (google it, and then look up yourself!).

I do like the idea of something just going in to the passport somewhere - like the Argentina visa they stapled in to my passport that takes up an entire page. Throw a vaccine sticker or stamp back there!