Vaccine passports are an increasingly likely proposition in Australia. Last week, national cabinet “welcomed” a new COVID-19 digital vaccination certificate, which will be made available through the Medicare app or myGov.
This week, government services minister Linda Reynolds confirmed Australians who have had two doses would be able to access a certificate. Australians are already able to see their immunisation history online. But the new certificate will only show COVID vaccination status, so it could easily be turned into a “passport”.
Countries all over the world are currently developing digital vaccination passports to facilitate international travel.
In Australia, we are also discussing whether they can be used to open up interstate movement (which will depend on the agreement of state and territory authorities).