White House Working on the Development of Vaccine Passports
A Premise Health healthcare worker loads a syringe with the Covid-19 Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine as part of a collaborative effort from the West Virginia National Guard, FamilyCare Health Centers and Toyota to vaccinate Toyota employees on March 26, 2021 in Buffalo, West Virginia. The Buffalo West Virginia plant is the second Toyota Plant to provide its workers with vaccines Covid-19 Vaccines. Stephen Zenner/Getty Images

The White House is working with private companies to develop a standard when it comes to vaccine passports that would prove Americans that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as establishments are trying to reopen.

However, the Biden administration added that the federal government should not be involved in verifying that people have been vaccinated. The White House noted that the process should be free, private, and secure, according to a USA Today report.

White House senior adviser for COVID1-19 response Andy Slavitt said that it is not the role of the government to hold data.

It should be available both digitally and in paper and in multiple languages. And it should be open source," he was quoted in a report.

COVID-19 pandemic coordinator Jeff Zients had second Slavitt's statement, saying that their role is to help ensure that any solutions should be free, accessible, and designed to protect people's privacy, according to The Washington Post report.

Meanwhile, New York has just become the first U.S. state to introduce a vaccine passport app, which is based on IBM's Digital Health Pass solution, which is designed to bring people back to establishments, according to an India Tribune report.

Major venues have already said that they will start using the technology in the coming weeks. These locations include Madison Square Garden in New York City starting this week, as well as the Time Union Center in Albany.

Vaccine Passports

The said certificate system could be used for traveling broad, as well as to grant access to restaurants and bars.

Aside from the U.S., the United Kingdom and European Union are eyeing the introduction of a digital passport.

However, physicians and rights group evinced their deep concern.

Dr. Deepti Gurdasani, clinical epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London, said that vaccine passports could be used to provide false evidence that they have been vaccinated, particularly those who wanted to travel, according to a CNBC report.

Gurdasani said that he can see the usefulness of the said mechanic in the long-run. However, he does not think the scientific evidence support them.

"And there are lots of ethical concerns about them that I think are legitimate," Gurdasani was quoted in a report.

The physician added that most countries does not have enough access to vaccines in order to immunize their populations, noting that implementing the said certificate system would discriminate those populations further.

Meanwhile, about 30 travel groups and major U.S. airlines wrote a letter to Zients urging the government to be the leader in the development of the said vaccine passports.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki earlier commented on the vaccine passports, saying that many are clamoring for it. However, she added that it is important to note that only 10 percent of the American population is vaccinated as of now, according to an Independent report.

"Right now, our focus, as the US government, is on getting more people vaccinated. And we'll think about how people can demonstrate they are vaccinated as we get more people vaccinated," Psaki was quoted in a report.

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