The health passport is a document that certifies that the traveler has been vaccinated against Covid-19, and that seeks to guarantee international mobility between countries. The initiative aims to allow vaccinated people to travel without restrictions and without the obligation of quarantine.

Despite the controversy generated by the implementation of the health passport, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) will launch the IATA Travel Pass mobile application this March, in which each traveler can include the vaccination certificate against the Covid-19.

Why the controversy?

Tourism has been one of the sectors most affected by the covid pandemic and has been in favor of implementing the health passport to reactivate the tourism economy. However, the scientific community is reluctant to the measure, since it questions the ethical, health and legal criteria of the health passport.

Epidemiological experts consider that the health passport is a measure that is taken prematurely, since it is currently unknown how long the vaccine immunity lasts, and if a person who has been vaccinated can continue to infect.

On the other hand, there are the airlines, for example, that are in favor of the health passport. From the economic reactivation perspective, experts from the tourism sector assure that the measure is simply not a great novelty, since there are countries that have had protocols for years, which require certificates like the health passport to travelers.

Due to pressure from countries like Greece or Spain, we are getting closer and closer to having a health passport for international travel. The objective of IATA is to facilitate the transit of passengers, and to help the definitive reopening of the cross-border flight sector.

In the application that will be launched by IATA, each traveler will be able to include the vaccination certificate and streamline travel procedures with greater safety and efficiency.

Those in favor of the measure emphasize that an application like the IATA’s has several advantages. Such as, for example, the inclusion of the requirements to travel to each country, as well as a list of authorized centers for PCR tests and vaccination in the health passport.

And why not?

It is yet to be defined whether the health passport will be necessary only on international flights or, on the contrary, whether it will be necessary to present it in any means of transport. While the final details are being adjusted some doubts arise, especially in the legal field.

If the vaccine is not compulsory in the European Union, how can the health passport be required from travelers? What happens to people who for medical reasons cannot get the Covid-19 vaccine?

It is not yet known if the summer of 2021 will allow us to travel without restrictions, but the truth is that we are getting closer and closer to developing a health passport in which technology and everyone’s responsibility come together to make an important leap in international passenger mobility.

If you have questions about the implementation of the health passport, contact Duguech&Dip. We will schedule an appointment and we will give you the information you need.

This information does not constitute under any circumstances legal advice, serving only for informational purposes. In case you need professional services in Global Immigration and Mobility, please contact us.

* It should be taken into account that the regulations of any of the countries analyzed, as well as the established procedures, may change at any time and without prior notice.

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