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THE Japanese Government plans to introduce vaccine passports to make it easier for people who have been inoculated against COVID-19 to travel internationally.
As quoted from Kyodo, this passport will later come in the form of a smartphone application. Travellers can scan the QR code at the airport before boarding a flight or when entering the country.
The app will be linked to the Vaccination Record System, a government database that shows people’s vaccination status and is based on CommonPass, an app developed with the involvement of the World Economic Forum. This step was taken with the hope that Japan can continue a business trip that has been stalled during the pandemic, joining the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China.
“Other countries are doing it, so Japan should consider that too,” said the minister in charge of the vaccination effort in Japan, Taro Kono.
Kono has previously argued that mandating vaccination certification could lead to discrimination against people who are unable or unwilling to receive injections due to possible allergic reactions or side effects.
Therefore, for the sake of eliminating such concerns, the vaccine passport will also list negative results from polymerase chain reactions and antigen tests. The scheme is not expected to be used domestically, for example to enter a restaurant or watch a sporting event.
Japan currently only allows entry of their nationals and foreigners with “special extraordinary circumstances” who must submit negative results of a corona-virus test 72 hours prior to their departure. [antaranews/photo special]
