The refusal could have an impact on post-pandemic inbound tourism since several countries consider the presentation of a health passport indispensable for entry into their territory.
During the last few months, several countries around the world have been betting on the creation of health passports that would allow greater airflow and thus the prompt reactivation of the tourism sector. However, the United States has ruled out the possibility of implementing such an initiative, citing the protection of privacy and the rights of its citizens.
Thus, the White House denies the possibility of introducing mandatory federal vaccination passports because they could be discriminatory. In response, Jen Psaki, press secretary of the institution, stated that “the government does not and will not support a system that requires Americans to carry a credential”.
She also justified the measure by pointing out that it could be discriminatory. “The federal government’s interest is to ensure that the privacy and rights of citizens are protected, with the objective that these systems are not used against people in an unfair manner,” she added.
On the other hand, the White House’s refusal could generate a conflict in the development of post-pandemic inbound tourism, due to the fact that several countries are considering the mandatory use of the health passport for entry into their territory. This is because the document would prove that the tourist has been vaccinated against COVID.-19 and would allow the safe development of meetings and mass travel.
Among them, England is developing a “Covid status certification” scheme to allow concerts and sports matches to be held. Likewise, the European Union is working on introducing vaccination certificates; while Israel already has a “Green Pass” that allows access to facilities such as hotels, gyms or theaters.
It should be noted that the position of the United States is currently supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), which started at the beginning of this week that it does not support the requirement of vaccination passports for travel, due to the uncertainty as to whether inoculation really prevents the transmission of the virus, as well as the concern of promoting discriminatory situations.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that Joe Biden, President of the United States, announced that on April 19 all U.S. adults will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. It should also be recalled that the nation has reported more than 550,000 deaths related to the virus and almost 31 million cases, making it the country with the highest figures in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.
