While airlines and tourism officials are unanimous, and most countries are generally in favor of some form of digital health credential, the proposals by different organizations and governments continue to proliferate, with no sign of any common agreement on either standards or a specific plan.
The European Union has agreed in principle on some form of common secure credential, and some individual countries, including Israel have issued their own. Several private groups, representing industry players have proposed frameworks that could be adopted by governments and adapted to different apps; the one with the widest support has been developed by IATA.
In the U.S., the Biden administration is shying away from getting involved; a statement this week from Andy Slavitt, a senior advisor on Covid, says that “It’s not the role of the government to hold that data and to do that,” although agreeing Americans need a way to reliably demonstrate that they’ve been vaccinated. He said “It should be private. The data should be secure. Access to it should be free. It should be available both digitally and in paper and in multiple languages. And it should be open source.” All very well, but no action.
Meanwhile, numbers of airlines are testing procedures of their own, including Qantas, Singapore and Air France. British Airways has modified its app and online boarding procedures to allow customers to upload whatever documentation they have; the airline will then advise if it is sufficient.
One thing is becoming increasingly clear: If a secure, verifiable and universal document is truly the key to reviving international air travel, the immediate future of international air travel will remain bleak.
