COVID: WHO against mandating ‘vaccine passports’ for travel

A senior World Health Organisation official says so-called “vaccine passports” for COVID-19 should not be used for international travel because of numerous concerns.

At a press briefing on Monday, WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan said there are “real practical and ethical considerations” for countries considering using vaccine certification as a condition for travel, adding the UN health agency advises against it for now.

“Vaccination is just not available enough around the world and is not available certainly on an equitable basis,” Ryan said.

The WHO has previously noted that it is still not known how long immunity lasts from the numerous licensed COVID-19 vaccines and that data is still being collected.

Ryan also noted the strategy might be unfair to people who cannot be vaccinated for certain reasons and that requiring vaccine passports might allow “inequity and unfairness (to) be further branded into the system”.

-Agencies