Supporters of passports or vaccine certificates hope the technology will help those who have been fully vaccinated to safely and securely open.

The UK will launch a passport system for vaccines next week in the UK, a major test for re-opening the economy with digital certification.

The UK’s NHS app, which allows users to schedule doctor’s appointments and view medical records, can quickly show that a person has been vaccinated. From next Monday (May 17) users will be able to access the vaccination status in the app and request a paper format, the UK Department of Health said.

Passports or vaccine certificates have been raised as a way to re-open the savings for those who have been fully immunized. Denmark has launched a similar app to allow access to restaurants and football matches.

But the UK immunization campaign has progressed much faster than other European countries. The country wants to reopen completely in June.

For people who want to book holidays abroad, there will be challenges to overcome.

“Many countries that accept evidence of vaccination do not currently exist,” the UK Health Department said. “So now, most people have to follow other rules when traveling abroad – just like taking a negative test before departure. “

A mosaic of passports and vaccination certificates has been developed in the private and public sectors.

IBM developed a digital health pass based on blockchain technology, and New York State officials worked with IBM on an application to allow access to concerts and sporting events.

The European Union (EU) is in the process of finalizing details of a digital green certificate indicating whether a person has been vaccinated or tested negative for Kovid-19. EU officials expect it to be active this summer, but time is running out. The European Parliament and the Council are holding discussions today (May 11).

Member states, especially Mediterranean countries that rely on summer tourism trade, want the system to be active before Europe loses another summer.

Meanwhile, IBM and the sales force have been asked to develop a passport application for Irish vaccines in Ireland.

At the same time, technology is full of privacy and security concerns about how much data will be collected, used, and stored.

As different applications are used across different industries – including Dawn, an Irish-based biometrics company that is developing stand-alone Covid-19 applications for the airline – it is not yet clear how or how they will work.

Updated, 4:45 pm 2020 May 11: A previous version of this article indicated that the vaccine passport would be available in the UK via the NHS Kovid-19 app. It has been updated to make it clear that the system will be available in the UK from next week via the standard NHS application.