COVID-19 caused chaos for the travel industry, but the vaccination rates throughout the world are increasing. Different nations are working on COVID-19 safe passes for passports enabling people to travel across countries. A COVID passport is a travel pass that contains the vaccination and health records of people. Thus, allowing them to travel hassle-free.
The need for COVID safe passes for passports has increased exponentially, as, on March 21st, the Transportation Security Administration have screened more than 1.5 million passengers in one day.
But the need of the hour is to understand how this new passport will work and the concerns and benefits!
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has come with the app, the Travel Pass. Emirates is one of the first airlines to try the IATA Travel Pass while others follow the route. Travelers need to download the app, upload a selfie as their profile picture, and scan their passport to verify themselves. Those who are vaccinated need to upload a copy of their vaccination certificate.
That is the whole crux of it; however, COVID-19 vaccination is easy to forge. Hence, tech firms are jockeying and developing ways to allow passengers to create digital immunity certificates. Companies and airlines are interested in such apps, where customers can store and enter their vaccination information, test results, and other medical-related documents.
However, the airlines must think about the older people and those who cannot afford to have high-end phones or do not know how to go digital when it comes to COVID safe passes. Only a smartphone app for COVID safe passes will exclude a considerable portion of the population. Hence, there should be a way to incorporate paper covid safe passes as well.
Additionally, there is a concern related to COVID safe passes. Most wealthy countries have received vaccination in bulk, which means there are still countries that might not benefit from the COVID safe passes, leading to not able to travel. A solution for such fliers must be figured out as well.
