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AUTHOR:
DATE AND TIME:
25.12.2020. 22:52
The introduction of health passports has awakened socio-political passions around the world, however, this document, which would serve as confirmation that a person is immune to Kovid-19, would be, according to experts, very useful, there would be no more epidemics.
Airplane, airfield, Photo: AP Photo / Jerome Delay
A health passport is not new: in Yugoslavia and Serbia it is known as the “yellow vaccination card” and for those who travel to countries where there is a danger of infectious diseases, it serves as confirmation that they have been vaccinated, explains epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic.
– When I was young, for Bangladesh, for example, I needed a cholera vaccine and it lasted six months. In the case of India, I had to get vaccinated against smallpox; the protection officially lasted three years. It is written in a yellow brochure, with the emblem of the World Health Organization. We can assume that something like this will be valid in international traffic even now – says Radovanović.
Epidemiologist Prof. Dr. Zoran Radovanović, Photo: Private archive
About a hundred countries today require that the person who comes to them be vaccinated against yellow fever. The difference in relation to the current health passport is that the carriers of a new document of this type will apparently be many in the world and that, due to the pandemic Kovida-19Without confirmation that people are immune to this disease, they will not be able to travel to many countries.
There is no epidemic with a health passport
However, despite the plans and proposals coming from different countries, the massive introduction of a health passport, as proposed by France, China and Great Britain, in Radovanovic’s opinion, is difficult.
– At this time, it has not been determined how long that protection lasts. I assumed that something like this would be valid, perhaps from 2022 for interstate traffic, which will not be able to enter, say, France, if you do not have that passport, says Radovanović.
Our interlocutor mentions 2022 as the approximate year for the introduction of health passports, because, in addition to vaccinating the entire population, we must also see how long the protection provided by the vaccine lasts, and we will know, as he himself says, in one or two years.
England, airport, Photo: AP / Victoria Jones / PA
The need to vaccinate the entire population is also pointed out by some foreign experts, who express skepticism regarding mass vaccination during the next year. In addition to the limited number of vaccines, they also emphasize resistance to vaccination, citing the results of a recent Gallup poll stating that only about 58 percent of the American population is willing to get vaccinated.
The introduction of health passports, in Radovanovic’s opinion, would be useful because then everyone would have to be vaccinated and everyone would be protected. If the problem is solved in that way, there is no more epidemic, it is categorical.
Health passports are gaining momentum in international traffic
The reasons why many large countries, such as China, the United Kingdom or France, are considering introducing health passports for all their citizens, in addition to security, lie in the desire to establish international traffic as it was before the pandemic. In addition to statesmen, the presidents of the big airlines also talk about health passports, especially since vaccines began to be used.
Among the first to appear was the executive director of the Australian airline Quantas, Alan Joyce, who announced that passengers traveling to Australia with this company must have health passports. The national airline leaders of New Zealand and South Korea followed Joyce in the same style.
Airplane, airfield, Photo: AP Photo / Jerome Delay
They all agree on one thing: costly and time-consuming measures, such as testing and quarantine, must be replaced if international traffic is to reach pre-pandemic levels.
As for the tourism sector, according to Filip Milosavljevic of the travel agency “Jungle Tribe”, the introduction of health passports will have a positive effect. People are already used to the existence of the coronavirus, and travel companies, airlines and hotels are taking all measures to prevent tourists from being infected and keep them safe, he says.
– People have certainly started traveling and thinking about traveling, and the additional introduction of a health passport, where there would be a vaccination certificate, I think would strengthen and restore people’s faith and hope that they can travel safely. That would have a positive effect on travel and the recovery of the tourism industry, Milosavljevic believes.
For him, who works in an agency that takes tourists to destinations where in most cases a health passport is already required, introducing a health passport as confirmation that someone is immune to Kovid-19 is the simplest way to overcome the current planetary problem.
The proposal to introduce health passports in some countries has become a political issue that has emerged on the political scene. This is the case in France, where, according to the draft new law, the introduction of health passports is foreseen for all citizens.
The draft proposes that those who cannot be negative for the coronavirus, or who have not been vaccinated, “be prohibited from certain activities and access to public transport or other places.” The right-wing opposition, led by the leader of the National Assembly, Marin Le Pen, describes the draft of the new law as a “health dictatorship.”
Unlike France, where the introduction of health passports was accompanied by the most extreme measures, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the introduction of global health CU codes at a meeting of G20 leaders about a month ago. In his opinion, it will renew international trade and travel. The introduction of health passports has been widely debated in the UK since May; the UK authorities have started work on the introduction of electronic health passports in cooperation with the private technology sector.
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