FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - How is the US going to Provide COVID-19 Immunization Certification?
Old Dec 30, 2020, 1:58 pm
  #50  
doctoravios
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 488
Originally Posted by skybluesea
See my posts below, would take far too long to link vaccination records through passport databases to make this realistic for 2021-2022 resumption of travel. Although I agree with you, we are decades away from the global consensus needed to achieve what you correctly say is technically possible today - something called politics and NOT wanting to be accountable for the mistakes made in other countries generally reigns in this kind of inter-state policy decision-making.



You are looking at this from the end of the generally legitimate travelers, whereas border control policies start with the premise that even the smallest error in interdiction efforts can cause major calamity - which is a clear lesson from the 9/11 Commission that errors were made in processing just a handful of people at both Embassies abroad and then upon arrival at U.S. Ports-of-Entry.

Rather, as I explained below, would only take few forgeries to create havoc amongst border control agencies everywhere. Forgery of the U.N. WHO compliant Yellow Book already exists, and as countries are all making up their own C-19 vaccination records, how will a border control agency in another country know what is real and what is not.

Unfortunately, in the world of border controls that I know well, only takes a VERY FEW bad apples to make cross-border travel difficult for everyone else.
I think eventually for longer duration visa applications many countries may require antibody testing to demonstrate response to a COVID-19 vaccination (or evidence of previous exposure), as is currently the case for hepatitis B, measles and rubella antibodies for healthcare workers. For shorter duration travel, I think once the pandemic has died down and nationals have been immunised then many countries will accept a certificate of some sort from foreign travellers. It is just too costly for everyone to get antibody testing and I am not certain many countries have the capacity to provide it en masse.

However, this is all dependent on being able to produce a reliable antibody test which can be used in this way and at scale.
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