Travellers can be tested for Covid each time they pass through a border. But they cannot be vaccinated every time. A top public health official now says that a vaccination certificate with a QR code, which acts as a digital pass or a facilitating tool, can work not just within the country, but abroad too.
State immunization officer Dileep Patil told TOI on Monday, “Every vaccinated individual should preserve this QR code as it declares that the person has completed vaccination in India. Since a QR code — linked to the person’s mobile number and identity proof — will be offered by the Union government through the CoWIN system, it will have a wide range of applications. It is a well-authenticated proof of inoculation against Covid.”
The QR code can be shown to authorities without revealing more sensitive health information. “The recipient only needs to click on the code to show the certificate each time authorities, anywhere, ask. It’s a sort of a digital pass,” Patil said. Some countries are already mulling ‘vaccine passports’ that will allow their citizens to travel abroad amid pandemic restrictions.