Ukraine will issue international certificates of vaccination but won’t introduce separate COVID-19 vaccine passports, Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko said.
Passports are created separately by each country and adhere to different standards. Certificates are defined by international health regulations. All vaccinated Ukrainians will be able to get the certificates for free “in two clicks,” according to Lyashko.
“It is not necessary to introduce and demand a certificate of vaccination against COVID-19 right now,” Lyashko said. “I fully agree with the head of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Hans Kluge, who publicly warns the European Commission against plans to introduce documents on vaccination against COVID-19.”
In January, Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov said the introduction of vaccine passports in Ukraine is possible but fraught with challenges.
“There are international vaccination certificates in the world. They have been used, for example, for vaccination against yellow fever,” Stepanov said. “I don’t rule out that something like this could happen.”
Stepanov also cautioned that “there is a discriminatory aspect” to using certificates. People who don’t have vaccine documentation may be forced to quarantine or get tested after traveling.
Vaccine passports are a hot topic of debate in many countries.
Sweden and Denmark have already introduced digital vaccination passports used primarily for travel.
Israel, whose vaccine rollout is the fastest in the world, opened its gyms, restaurants, and entertainment halls for people who could prove they’ve received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The government released an app that shows whether one is fully vaccinated.
Greece soon followed suit and is now urging other EU members to introduce similar structures in an attempt to save the region’s tourism.
But experts around the world have sounded the alarm about the digital passports’ web security issues and the discrimination that might ensue. Citizens of poorer countries such as Ukraine may not be able to travel for a long time because their governments’ vaccine rollout is too slow.
The idea behind vaccine passports is not new.
The International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICV), also known as the Yellow Card, is an official vaccination record introduced by the World Health Organization in the 1930s.
ICVs are accepted internationally and have helped prevent the spread of many dangerous diseases, such as yellow fever, smallpox and cholera.
While ICVs and international certificates are managed by the WHO and are recognized by all its members, COVID-19 vaccine passports are developed in each country separately, with the possible exception of the European Union.
ICVs are also primarily issued on paper, except in some African countries. Vaccine passports have been issued digitally so far, potentially jeopardizing people’s personal data and enabling scammers to produce fake passports.
Over 53,100 Ukrainians have been vaccinated so far, which is 0.12% of the total population.
