How Covid vaccination certificate will affect you
Kampala- The World Health Organisation (WHO) is planning to introduce an electronic vaccination certificate to monitor those who have been immunised against Covid-19.
Once accepted by countries, the electronic certificate is expected to play a central role in regulating travels, and affect access to services in private and public places.
WHO said the e-vaccination certificate will “facilitate monitoring of national Covid-19 vaccination programmes as well as supporting cross-border uses architected for a potential future in which the Covid-19 vaccine would be included in an updated version of the international health regulations.”
This comes at a time when most countries are struggling to acquire the vaccines. Uganda is expecting to have only 2 million doses by January.
WHO is also fighting the distrust and conspiracy theories among some influential religious leaders that Covid-19 vaccines are being used by rich people in “ID2020” project to introduce microchips into bodies of the recipients to control them.
ID2020 is a 2016 founded non-governmental organisation, which advocates for digital identification for the billions of undocumented people worldwide and under-served groups such as refugees. Microsoft, which is owned by Bill Gates, Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI) and another firm called Accenture are the main pillars behind the organisation.
However, proof of vaccination against diseases such as yellow fever has long been required before travelling to some countries to prevent the spread, and Covid-19 could be the next.
In a telephone interview with Daily Monitor last week, Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, the WHO representative to Uganda, said the e-vaccination certificate will help to keep important records.
“WHO is currently exploring how the common vaccination record could be done electronically,” Dr Woldemariam said.
Asked about the potential restrictions that will come for those who have not been vaccinated, he said: “Requirement for Covid-19 vaccination would have to be as per the international health regulations and would happen with debate and engagement with our member states.”
“We will need to secure enough supply and access to safe and effective vaccines before such a certificate would be feasible,” he added.
However, with rich countries such as the United Kingdom already vaccinating their population, it is unpredictable whether they will wait until poor countries have accessed the vaccines to make e-vaccination certificate a regulatory requirement.
Mr Nadhim Zahawi, who has newly been appointed as the health minister to oversee the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine in England, told BBC that they are looking at technology to determine those who have been vaccinated.
“But also, I think you’ll probably find that restaurants and bars and cinemas and other venues, sports venues, will probably also use that system [e-vaccination certificate] as they have done with the (test and trace) app,” he was quoted by BBC to have said.
In October, WHO signed a contract with Estonia, a global digital technology pioneer, to provide reliable technology that proves one’s immunity against Covid-19 in the likely future where usual paper-based vaccine certificates can be forged and are not totally reliable.
Mr Marten Kaevats, the primary architect for the e-vaccination certificate from Estonia, said in a press statement that each person will have a digital identifier such as QRS code and that the technology will enable safe and anonymous interaction for confidentiality purpose.
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