UK: Vaccine passports to take off around the world despite critics

The vaccines are coming, Ryanair's advert trumpeted. Michael O’Leary’s budget airline launched its “jab and go” marketing campaign that launched on Boxing Day, which encouraged customers to book their Easter and Summer holidays. Ryanair - like other airlines - could benefit from the widespread adoption of so-called vaccination passports, an idea that has flitted in and out of popularity throughout the year. The idea of coronavirus-based travel passes were touted back in March in the UK when Philipa Whitform, the chair of the all parliamentary group for vaccines said they could help track which workers had contracted Covid-19. The passports hinged on rapid testing, but the idea failed to take off due to limits in capacity and accuracy. But now, some see vaccines as a far more reliable proof of immunity. Biometrics could be used to confirm the identity of a person and match it with their jab record and in theory could allow travellers to move freely throughout the world knowing they cannot catch the virus. The Government has said there are no plans for a UK vaccine passport. But Andrew Bud, the CE of iProov, which is develops a biometric verification system, says the NHS would be "completely capable" of producing such a passport. "Institutionally, if it's going to be part of your identity then there is only one organisation that you will trust to do that, and that's the NHS," Bud says. "I don't think they'll trust anyone else with a vaccination status." While UK start-ups such as iProov, Veridium and Onfido have all looked at how digital IDs for coronavirus immunity might work, the idea remains controversial.<br/>