Does the WHO want to introduce a global vaccine passport for all travelers?

Does the Covid-19 epidemic continue to affect the leaders of international organizations such as the WHO? This is what online publications say, referring to the future creation “Global Vaccine Passport”.

“Without it, it would be impossible to travel”we can read while the video shows a speech by the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the subject. This pass, as we can also read, will include travel medical cards. If a project of this nature is under development, we should be wary of claims that such a tool will be mandatory for daily commuting.

WHO, in the voice of its CEO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on June 5 “historic initiative” in partnership with the European Commission. The institution reports that, as of June this year, it “will adopt the European Union (EU) COVID digital certificate to create a system that will facilitate global mobility and protect citizens around the world from current and future health threats, including pandemics.”. This is what we are told “the first element of the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network, which will develop a wide range of digital products to improve the health of all.”

The basic idea is simple: build on the experience of the EU, which developed the European Health Passport during the pandemic, so that this time a similar tool can be extended to the rest of the world. The international organization rated the system established on the Old Continent as very convincing and believes that it would be useful to expand its use. In future, “We will expand this infrastructure by integrating other uses such as digitized international vaccination certificates, routine vaccination cards and international patient summaries.”Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his speech.

“I am delighted that the WHO is building on the principles of confidentiality and state-of-the-art EU certificate technology to create a global tool against future pandemics.”for his part, Thierry Breton, French Union Commissioner in charge of the internal market, said in a WHO press release. In practice, such a tool should enable States to respond quickly to new epidemics with a simple and consistent tool.

However, the generalization of such a global digital certificate cannot in any way be imposed by WHO. Although this body makes many public health recommendations, it does not have the authority to make binding documents governing circumnavigation. Thus, various states can freely agree on the regulation of the flow of people and the conditions for entry into their territory. We add that such a digital tool is intended “based on open source technologies and standards”and that it is intended to be made available free of charge to authorities wishing to deploy it.

Finally, WHO believes that this digital certification network “can play a critical role in cross-border humanitarian situations by ensuring that people have access to their medical records and certificates when crossing borders due to conflict, the climate crisis or other emergencies.”

The rollout of new digital health tools globally is not unanimously enthusiastic. Opponents of mandatory vaccination see it as a new tool to promote vaccines among the population, while defenders of individual freedoms may warn against using the data that will be collected.

The Director of WHO, no doubt aware of the misgivings his announcements might raise, insisted that “Respect for privacy is essential” And “WHO will not have access to any personal health data”. instance “will simply maintain a store of public keys that can be used to authenticate a Member State’s digital health records.”.

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