WHO “will make it easier for its member states to introduce digital vaccination certificates in the future.”
QUICK FACTS:
- The World Health Organization has announced that it wants to tie a digital passport and digital identification system to its international pandemic treaty.
- The WHO plans to finalize the treaty by 2024 and aims to ask member countries to move governing authority to the WHO in the event of a pandemic.
- This change in sovereignty appears to be an attempt at a legally binding agreement in the form of the WHO’s revised International Health Regulations.
- The plan has some dissenters, including Canadian parliament member Leslyn Lews, who warned the treaty could allow the WHO to not only take over in the event of a pandemic but also to determine what constitutes a pandemic. “We would end up with a one-size-fits-all approach for the entire world,” she cautioned.
THE WHO’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
- “The World Health Organization (WHO) will make it easier for its member states to introduce digital vaccination certificates in the future. The WHO is setting up a gateway for this purpose. It enables QR codes on electronic vaccination certificates to be checked across national borders,” the WHO and T-Systems said in their announcement.
- “It is intended to serve as a standard procedure for other vaccinations such as polio or yellow fever after COVID-19. The WHO has selected T-Systems as an industry partner to develop the vaccination validation services,” the announcement went on to say.
- According to the head of WHO’s Department of Digital Health and Innovation Garret Mehl, the new universal system is to issue a QR code digital ID to every person on earth as a way of tracking health and creating a “trust-building” exercise.
- “Vaccination certificates that are tamper-proof and digitally verifiable build trust. WHO is therefore supporting member states in building national and regional trust networks and verification technology,” explained Mehl. “The WHO’s gateway service also serves as a bridge between regional systems. It can also be used as part of future vaccination campaigns and home-based records.”
BACKGROUND:
- The United States has a history of working with the WHO on policies, including in January of 2022, when the U.S. submitted proposed amendments to the 2005 International Health Regulations.
- Included in the proposed amendments are concessions that would allow the WHO to no longer consult a nation or attempt to obtain verification from the nation of concern or outbreak before taking action.
