Vaccine Passport

Vaccine Passport

Recently, "vaccine passport" has become a hot word in the international community. As more and more people accept the new crown vaccine, many countries are considering the introduction of "vaccine passport" in order to restore international circulation as soon as possible and restart the economy.
So what is a vaccine passport?
In fact, it is not a real passport, but a certificate recording the vaccination information of Xinguan, so as to prove the vaccination status of cross-border travelers.

It is understood that many countries in the world have been actively promoting "vaccine passport". What is the specific process ?

EU: legislation for "vaccine passport"
In early March, European Commission President Frederick von draen revealed that a draft legislation on "vaccine passport" will be introduced this month to make it possible to resume the travel of European citizens during the epidemic period. It is estimated that the EU will develop and complete the "vaccine passport" within three months at the latest. In the future, the "vaccine passport" will be recognized by all countries through the Internet platform at the EU level.

Israel: launch "green passport"
Israel's "vaccine passport" was officially launched on February 21 this year. When it is used in Israel, it is called "green passport". When it is used internationally, it can be called "green passport", which is issued exclusively by the Ministry of health of Israel.

As the number of confirmed cases continues to decline, Israel announced that it will further relax the restrictions on the epidemic since March 7. In areas with low infection rates, students with permits can return to school and resume classes, while students without permits still need to take classes online.

The government hopes to complete the vaccination for all Israeli adults by the end of March.

Thailand: government plans to promote "vaccine passport"
The novel coronavirus pneumonia and the Ministry of health, Vice Minister of health, said in March 8th that the resolution on the introduction of "vaccine passport" and the shortened quarantine period for entry into Thailand will be submitted to the government's new crown pneumonia epidemic Management Center for consideration.

So far, the only new crown vaccine inoculated in Thailand is Kexing vaccine imported from China. The Ministry of health of Thailand will provide new crown vaccine vaccination certificate, namely "vaccine passport", for those who have been inoculated with the vaccine.

Canada: G7 countries are discussing the implementation of "vaccine passport"

In an interview with Canadian media on March 7 local time, Canadian health minister Patty Haidu said that the implementation of "vaccine passport" has been included in the agenda of G7 member countries.

Haidu said that as more and more Canadians get vaccinated and countries are considering relaxing border restrictions, international travel with "vaccine passport" has become a "very realistic" issue. She said ministers of health in G7 countries hold regular meetings every two weeks. "Vaccine passport" is on the agenda.

Northern Europe: Iceland has issued the first batch

On January 26, Iceland issued the world's first batch of "vaccine passports". On February 4, the governments of Denmark and Sweden successively announced the implementation of "vaccine passport", which will be launched as soon as June this year.

Austria: an active promoter

Austria is also an active promoter of "vaccine passport". Austrian Prime Minister Kurtz said on February 24 that people need a new "vaccine passport" to return to normal life.

Britain: looking forward to traveling abroad in May

According to Xinhua news agency in London, more than 20 million British people have been vaccinated, accounting for one third of the British population. According to the British government's "road map", if the epidemic situation improves, British people can travel abroad from May 17 this year. The British government recently said it would discuss the feasibility of "vaccine passport" with EU countries.

South Korea: discuss whether to use it

South Korea's epidemic prevention department official said on March 2 that the government is discussing whether to use the new "vaccine passport", which includes issuing "vaccine passport" to its citizens and exempting foreigners holding "vaccine passport" from quarantine.

Singapore: discussing with Malaysia
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also revealed at the end of February that Singapore is discussing with willing countries on mutual recognition of the new crown vaccination certificate. For example, Singapore and Malaysia are discussing this issue, paving the way for further relaxation of border control between the two countries.

So, can foreign customers come to China directly through "vaccine passport"?
At present, the isolation time of overseas customers before and after coming to China is nearly one month. Because of the strict isolation policy in China, most of the customers in previous years have cancelled the relevant plans.

On March 7, foreign minister Wang Yi announced at the foreign ministers' press conference of the "two sessions" that the Chinese version of "international travel health certificate" will be launched to provide a practical "China plan" for promoting the recovery of the world economy and the facilitation of cross-border personnel exchanges.

On March 8, the wechat app of Chinese version of "international travel health certificate" was officially launched. It is a comprehensive proof, showing the nucleic acid, serum IgG antibody test results of the holder and vaccination situation. The health certificate contains an encrypted two-dimensional code, which can be verified by relevant departments in various countries and read personal information. In addition to electronic display, it can also be printed to produce paper version.

Answers to questions about the Chinese version of "international travel health certificate":

Q: What is the function of this certificate ?
In the normalization of epidemic situation and the post epidemic era, the mutual recognition of nucleic acid testing and vaccination information in the international scope is conducive to safe and effective cross-border personnel exchanges.

Q: Do foreign customers apply for international travel health certificate ?
At present, the certification and inquiry functions of international travel are only open to people holding identity cards in Chinese mainland. Identity authentication requires WeChat account to be authenticated and the ID number must be consistent with the ID number of WeChat.

Q: Is there no need for quarantine in China ?
The ultimate goal in the future is to replace compulsory isolation with "international travel health certificate" or so-called "vaccine passport". It is believed that in the near future, with the continuous improvement of international health data, there will be more convenient landing detection and isolation measures.

Although the certification of international travel health certificate is only open to Chinese mainland identity cards, there is good news about foreign visas for China:

In order to restore orderly contacts between China and foreign countries, several Chinese embassies abroad announced that they would simplify the process of China visa for foreigners who have been vaccinated with China made New Coronavirus vaccine.

Important information: Chinese embassies in foreign countries have announced visa facilities for vaccinators made in China.

On March 12th, the office of the special commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of foreign affairs in Hong Kong took the lead in announcing that from March 15, it will provide convenience to multiple types of visa applicants who have been vaccinated with the new crown vaccine produced in China and hold the vaccination certification materials.
In addition to Hong Kong, the China embassies in the United States, Pakistan, the Philippines, Israel, Thailand, Russia, India, Japan and other countries have successively issued after March 15th.

China's visa facilitation policy has three targets:
1. Personnel and their families who come to China to engage in necessary work and production resumption activities (such as work, business, visit, etc.) in various fields can prepare visa application materials according to the requirements before the epidemic.

2. Appropriately expand the scope of visa examination and issuance for "urgent humanitarian needs" in China
Applicable groups include: foreign family members of Chinese citizens or permanent residents, including spouses, parents, children and other close relatives living together (brothers and sisters, grandparents, grandparents, grandchildren and grandchildren).
The reasons for coming to China include family reunion, support, visiting relatives, going to China for funerals or visiting critically ill relatives.

3. Holders of valid APEC business travel card can apply for business visa with valid apec business travel card and invitation letter issued by China's domestic invitation unit. A valid passport and visa are required for entry.

China suspended foreign entry to novel coronavirus pneumonia in March 28th last year. After the local epidemic was brought under control, China's State Administration of migration has allowed foreigners holding valid residence permits for work, private affairs and reunion to enter China since September 28 last year.

China's "vaccine passport" will not only expand the number of people allowed to enter the country, but also simplify the entry requirements. China's China's novel coronavirus pneumonia policy emphasizes that the visa policy is only applicable to the new crown pneumonia vaccine that has been vaccinated in China. Visa applicants who have been certified to have no need to provide negative nucleic acid test certificates and travel track and health declaration form for the past 14 days.

Global "mutual recognition" is a key problem:
Although many countries are actively promoting "vaccine passport", it will take a long time for the global "mutual recognition of vaccine passport".

According to reports, Israel has reached agreements with Greece, Cyprus and Seychelles respectively. Holders of "vaccine passport" are free to travel internationally without isolation.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates are also preparing to recognize each other's "vaccine passports" in April. Israel also discussed this with the Czech Republic and Hungary. On March 8, Israeli ambassador to China pan Qirui said, "we are happy to be the first country to realize mutual recognition of vaccination with China.".

Industry insiders show that at present, mutual recognition of "vaccine passports" is most likely among countries and regions, such as Europe and the United States, the United States and some Asian countries vaccinated by the United States.

This kind of global mutual recognition will take a long time. It is not only a matter of standards, but also the global epidemic situation is at different stages. For example, the situation in the northern hemisphere is getting better, but as the southern hemisphere enters winter, the epidemic situation in some countries may worsen. In this case, it will be very difficult to promote "mutual recognition" between the northern and southern hemispheres.