G20 leaders agree to introduce COVID vaccine passports

Muscat: In an attempt to have a better response to tackle future pandemic, leaders at the G20 Summit in Indonesia signed a declaration to introduce vaccine passports for their respective jurisdictions.

Vaccine passports could create a global verification system to facilitate safe international travel.

“We acknowledge the importance of shared technical standards and verification methods, under the framework of the IHR (2005), to facilitate seamless international travel, interoperability, and recognizing digital solutions and non-digital solutions, including proof of vaccinations,” read one of the clauses of the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration.

“We support continued international dialogue and collaboration on the establishment of trusted global digital health networks as part of the efforts to strengthen prevention and response to future pandemics, which should capitalise and build on the success of the existing standards and digital COVID-19 certificates.”

The G20 summit discussed issues of global importance and COVID-19 was a particular focus of this year’s meet.

In a statement, the leaders affirmed their respective countries’ support of the World Health Organization mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer hub, which aims to build capacity in low- and middle-income countries to produce mRNA vaccines.

The leaders said they welcome joint production and research of vaccines and acknowledge the importance of shared technical standards and verification methods.

Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin was quoted by local media that “a Digital Health Certificate using World Health Organization standards would be introduced during the next World Health Assembly in Geneva, in May next year.

“If you have been vaccinated or tested properly, you can move around. So for the next pandemic, instead of stopping the movement of people 100%, you can still provide some movement of the people.”