Infectious disease expert Dr. Endymion Tan loves to travel so he favors having a vaccine passport.
That is why there should be no discrimination in receiving a vaccination passport, especially for Filipinos who have been injected with the COVID-19 vaccine by the Chinese company Sinovac like Tan.
“Katulad ng Sinovac, this is FDA-approved naman for us at saka mayroon siyang EUA (emergency use authorization)… so I don’t think there should be a reason na hindi nila tanggapin o i-honor ito,” said Tan.
Sinovac and other China-made vaccines have not been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and are not used in Europe.
Due to this, the WHO also does not support the vaccine passport requirement in the Philippines.
In the Philippines, the first vaccine card will be given to those who are vaccinated as proof of vaccination against COVID-19. The vaccine passport will be discussed separately in the Senate.
The vaccine card is different from the vaccination passport that may be needed for the trip abroad.
Also read: FDA approves AstraZeneca for 59 years old and below
WHO does not support vaccine passport requirement in PH
For Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, don’t think about the vaccine brand or vaccine passport first.
According to the expert Dr. Edsel Salvana, there is no final decision on the vaccine passport so it should not be an obstacle to vaccination.
Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat supported the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) digital travel pass.
“Hinihingi nila ‘yong negative RT-PCR etcetera… Mayroon silang travel pass so lahat ng member airlines will be part of this tapos parang sa isang IATA travel pass, nandoon na lahat ng kakailanganin mo to go that destination,” she said.
Puyat explained that the travel pass developed by IATA offers a “global and standardized solution” for the validation and authentication of various regulations abroad in relation to COVID-19 passenger travel requirements.
She added that the country really has trials due to the pandemic, so such a travel pass will help for the reopening of tourism and the economy.