What is a vaccine passport, who needs it and why

Well, it’s started. Although the WHO is against vaccine passports, some countries are still coming up with something. They say it will make it easier for citizens to travel, and generally, such a system will quickly get the travel world back on its feet. And so, last month, the European Commission approved a single vaccine passport, the Digital Green Pass.

Digital Green Pass — a free vaccine passport for EU citizens that will allow travelers to fly to other countries without certificates or quarantines. It is planned to be in two languages: national and English, in digital or paper form, with a special QR code for authenticity.

The Digital Green Pass itself includes three certificates:

• certificate of vaccination, indicating the vaccine, date, and dose;
• negative results of NAAT / RT-PCR tests, or a rapid antibody test;
• certificates for those who have recovered from coronavirus in the last 180 days.

Can non-EU citizens also get it?

Yes. If you have the right to enter any EU country, you can get vaccinated and collect all necessary certificates there, and then obtain a Digital Green Pass based on them. It’s also possible with documents for other approved vaccines.

Is the passport mandatory?

This is where it gets more complicated. The EU has not yet decided whether the Digital Green Pass is mandatory for entering another country. But it will certainly offer advantages: no need to quarantine or take additional tests.

However, there are nuances here too. The presence of restrictions at the destination depends on the vaccine the traveler received.

There are vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), namely: BioNTech / Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. And there are local ones, like Chinese Sinopharm — these are not yet recognized by the EMA. So, if someone in, say, Hungary was vaccinated with a local vaccine, they will only be able to enter countries that accept those vaccinated individuals with fewer restrictions; in other countries, they will have to comply with all existing restrictive measures. Unfortunately, EMA-approved vaccines offer more freedom of movement.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is strongly against making vaccine passports a mandatory condition for citizens entering any country. This is because it is a form of discrimination, as not everyone can get vaccinated.

Who cannot be vaccinated

Standard medical guidelines list contraindications for vaccination:

• hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine or a vaccine containing similar components;
• severe allergic reactions in history;
• acute infectious and non-infectious diseases;
• exacerbation of chronic diseases (vaccination is carried out only 2–4 weeks after recovery or remission);
• pregnancy and breastfeeding period;
• age under 18 (due to lack of data on efficacy and safety).

There are also a number of restrictions due to which vaccination may not be administered:

• use of medicinal products in the last 30 days, including antitumor drugs, prednisolone, antiviral drugs;
• radiation therapy within the last year;
• adverse reaction to a previous vaccine administration;
• presence of class G immunoglobulins in the body;
• chronic liver and kidney diseases;
• pronounced endocrine system dysfunction (diabetes mellitus);
• severe hematopoietic system diseases;
• epilepsy, strokes, and other CNS diseases;
• cardiovascular diseases (history of myocardial infarction, myocarditis, endocarditis, pericarditis, ischemic heart disease);
• primary and secondary immunodeficiencies;
• autoimmune diseases;
• lung diseases, asthma, and COPD;
• atopy and eczema;
• immunosuppression or multiple sclerosis;
• malignant neoplasms.

It is clear that the conditions for obtaining and using the Digital Green Pass will change depending on the global situation, and what is now is not final. We’ll see.