Digitizing COVID-19 Vaccine Travel Documents

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated on August 27, 2021, 'it does not support the requirement of proof of COVID-19 vaccination to travel.'

However, depending on the risk assessment of the countries concerned, information about vaccination against COVID-19 may be used to reduce requirements for quarantine or testing upon arrival.

But this is not the primary purpose of the move towards digital documentation of COVID-19 status.

The WHO recently published a guidance document for countries and implementing partners on the technical requirements for issuing digital certificates for vaccination against COVDI-19.

The guidance is part of a series of planning documents on the digitalization of COVID-19 certificates.

The guidance will, amongst other things, Support Member states in adopting digital tools for documenting COVID-19 vaccination status for effective health care and proof of vaccination should it be needed for other purposes.

The minimum requirements for implementing digital documentation in countries around the world empower Member States the greatest possible flexibility to build a solution appropriate not just for their needs but the diverse needs of individuals around the world.

The WHO guidance was developed in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary group of experts to ensure that it will be useful to governments and implementing partners who have built or who are currently developing systems for issuing or verifying digital vaccination certificates.

The technical content of the WHO guidance has been made available to partner countries and economies that have developed or are in the process of developing national digital vaccination certificates to ensure that these digital certificate products will be interoperable. In addition, technical assistance will be provided to countries and implementing partners to align existing products to WHO specifications.