A panel of the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that no Covid-19 “vaccine passports” should be required to enter or leave a country, even if several countries are either considering or requiring such documents for international travel.
“We have long advised against using Covid vaccination cards for international travel because availability is inadequate and there is a need for robust evidence to prevent virus transmission after vaccination. We have issued the latest preliminary guidelines to all member states, “WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan told Mint.
WHO’s updated preliminary guidance on “Technical Considerations for Implementing a Risk-Based Approach to International Travel in the Context of Covid-19” states that the adoption of vaccinations in most countries is advancing and the evidence of vaccine performance against the development Severe Covid infections increase disease and death and – to a “lesser extent” – protection against infections and reduction in transmission as well as in terms of performance against worrying variants, the national authorities in the target countries can implement an individualized approach when applying measures in the area of Consider public health.
“In connection with global travel, the WHO recommends that member states should not require proof of Covid vaccination or recovery as a mandatory condition for entering or leaving a country,” it said.
“You can consider exempting arriving travelers who are fully vaccinated from SARS-CoV-2 testing and / or quarantine requirements at least two weeks prior to travel,” the WHO said, adding that travelers who have a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by RT-PCR within the last six months and are no longer infectious according to the WHO criteria.The discharge of Covid patients from isolation can also be excluded.
Nonetheless, data from vaccination studies show that some vaccinated people can still become infected and develop the mostly mild disease. Therefore, it is unlikely that travelers who are vaccinated will develop a severe Covid infection and consequently not put more strain on the health systems in the destination countries. However, their ability to infect others and the risk of further transmission remain unknown, the WHO said.
The global health agency Apex also recommended that national authorities use other certificates of Covid health status, some in digital form as recommended by regional or global intergovernmental agencies. When using digital certificates with Covid status, interoperable solutions should be sought that enable cross-border verification. Currently, India requires overseas travelers to submit an RT-PCR test, which will be performed within 72 hours of travel. Some states also have mandatory quarantine rules. India has introduced a digital vaccination card that is linked to passports. RS Sharma, chief executive officer of the National Health Authority and chairman of the Co-Win platform, said vaccination certificates have been checked against Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources – a WHO standard. The digital vaccination card is India’s vaccination record, he said.
There are countries like Belize, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Georgia, Guatemala, Iceland, Montenegro, Poland, Seychelles and Slovenia that allow travelers to enter and skip quarantine if they have a full vaccination against Covid. Some states in India such as Punjab, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand have banned the entry of people from other states without a negative Covid test result or vaccination certificate.
The WHO panel said Covid testing remains vital for countries to control the pandemic, and international travelers should not be viewed by default as suspected Covid-19 cases or as a priority group for testing. “In resource-constrained contexts, avoid diverting testing resources away from environments where testing can have a major public health impact,” the WHO guidelines state.
“We are following WHO guidelines and are considering the best precautions we can take in line with WHO guidelines during the pandemic,” said a senior health department official.
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