Authorities Act on Proof of Health Status – But is it Enough?

After the World Health Authority (WHO) declared on 30 January 2020 that COVID-19 was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and that, on 11 March 2020, it had developed into a pandemic, scientists quickly developed vaccines that would prevent the spread and health impact of the virus. Governments, for their part, working with commercial organisations established vaccination certification protocols and documents that reflected the individual public health care circumstances of each country, region and bloc.

By October 2021, a loose network of bilateral arrangements had been agreed that established equivalence, and so mutual acceptance, amongst the five major proof of health status certification across the globe: China’s International Travel Health Certificate (ITHC), the European Union’s EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC), India’s Digital Infrastructure for Vaccination Open Credentialing (DIVOC), the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) COVID Pass and the SMART Health Cards used by large private organisations and by about half of the states in the US.