U.K. COVID-19 Immunity Passports Enter Trial Phases

It was announced in January 2021 that the United Kingdom had pushed a COVID-19 immunity and vaccination passport into live testing. The passport, developed by deep-tech solutions provider Mvine and facial biometric authentication company iProov with backing from Innovate UK, will display the citizen’s registered vaccination status without the need for their identity to be disclosed. The prototype credential will now go into testing within the National Health Service (NHS) with the aim of completing two successful trials by the end of March 2021. This will be required to establish trust in the digital credential, which is needed to enable its deployment at scale in local areas.

The Mvine-iProov passport has been stated to integrate with existing NHS infrastructure and databases, enabling it to comply with pre-existing national requirements, a typical stumbling block for the introduction of new credentials. The proof of vaccination status, which can be verified in an online and offline environment, is accomplished by utilizing a mathematical model of the citizen’s facial biometrics and linking this to the user’s vaccination. The live testing will be the next step for the U.K. immunity passport, the project for which began in April 2020.

It is worth noting, however, that the United Kingdom is not the only country looking toward a citizen credential or certificate as proof of vaccination. A number of governments in several regions are exploring the options available to expand citizens’ travel options and reopen economies.

In Germany, a COVID-19 immunity passport has been proposed as an idea to enable citizens to get access to flights, restaurants, and retail as the European Union begins to rollout vaccinations to member states. Many German citizens already hold an “immunization passport” documenting their inoculation history, with measles injections for children effectively mandatory already. However, in September 2020, the German Ethics Council unanimously advised against COVID-19 immunity passports for the time being citing lingering uncertainties on immunity to coronavirus as well as fears of creating a “two-tier” society. For the moment, it seems the German government is not looking to provide a credential solution in the immediate shorter term.

With approximately 20% of its citizenry having received their first vaccination, Israel’s Ministry of Health will soon begin to issue “green booklets” to citizens who have received both doses of the vaccination. The immunization passport will enable a relaxing of the restrictions to these citizens, including going into isolation after coming in contact with an infected person, going into isolation after international travel to a country with high infection rates, and having to be tested before entering tourist areas. Israel has also experienced its own degree of resistance to such credentials, with criticism from the Arab and Orthodox Jewish communities regarding vaccine skepticism and human rights groups for not extending its vaccination campaign to Palestinian territories.

Rather than a physical document, the technology sector of Brazil is currently working on a mobile app as a “back to work” pass for citizens who have been immunized against the virus. Development and testing of the solution will be contained within the IT sector before being rolled out on a wider scale. However, this is currently in the early stages of development.

With uncertainties regarding coronavirus immunity and vaccine effectiveness, on top of ethical concerns around vaccine availability and citizen prioritization, the immunity passport is in a contentious position. At this stage, the “immunity passport,” whatever form factor it takes, will apply only to internal travel and restrictions in the vast majority of cases, with international standards approval a long way off.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised against issuing such documents, citing uncertainty around vaccine effectiveness and immunity to the coronavirus. This is understandable given the introduction of immunity passports such as the Chilean “release certificate,” which does not even require a vaccine and is issued when a citizen has recovered from the virus, despite cases being reported of recovered citizens being reinfected.

The concept of an immunity passport is something that will continue to be hotly debated by governments, solutions providers, and the WHO for a considerable time. With countries across the globe at various stages of lockdowns, infection rates, and immunizations, immunity credentials will be few and far between and very much dependent on a case-by-case basis.