Covid: NHS app to act as ‘vaccine passport’

The UK government has confirmed that it will use the NHS app to verify COVID-19 vaccination and testing status of international travellers. The measure was proposed after experts warned that a ‘vaccine passport’ system could become vital for years to come.

The prime function of the NHS smartphone app is to allow people to conveniently book appointments with their GPs.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has stated that development has begun on the pre-existing NHS app. The added feature will show a person’s vaccination status and their coronavirus test result.

He has also suggested that a list of potential holiday destinations will be made public within two weeks. However, he was more reserved when asked when foreign travel can resume. Shapps recommended that the public will have to ‘wait and see.’ 

He told Sky News: ‘I have to say that so far, the data does continue to look good from a UK perspective, notwithstanding those concerns about where people might be travelling to and making sure we’re protected from the disease being reimported.’

Shapps further added, ‘We do need to make sure that we do this very, very carefully … But, in the next couple of weeks, I’ll come back on, and I’ll be able to tell you about which countries will have made it into the traffic light system – and that green list in particular.’

According to him, the green list will comprise countries where people can visit without a post-return quarantine. However, a COVID-19 PCR test before departure and another on returning to the UK will be made mandatory. Read more about the ‘traffic light’ travel system here.

‘In terms of vaccine certification, I can confirm we are working on an NHS application – actually, it will be the NHS app that is used for people when they book appointments with the NHS and so on – to be able to show that you have had a vaccine or that you’ve had testing,’ Shapps said regarding the use of the NHS app as ‘vaccine passport.’

According to Christopher Dye, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford, vaccine certificates or passports may be a long term solution for international travel.

He said at the UK science and technology select committee, ‘One reason is that Covid is not going to go away; it is going to be endemic around the world, it is going to keep resurfacing, and I think that, just as we’ve had yellow fever passports for years and years and years, we’re going to have Covid passports too.’ 

University of Sheffield’s Dr. Ruth Payne holds a similar belief.

She said, ‘I think once something is introduced and it has been used for several years, it is very unlikely that it will be retracted.’

More news on ‘vaccine passports’ and EU’s plans.