Can the "vaccine passport" accelerate the global recovery?
(Hot conversation)
Our reporter Gao Qiao
Recently, the "vaccine passport" has become a hot topic in the international community.
The European Union, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and many other countries have recently considered launching "vaccine passports."
China will also issue health certificates for international travel.
Many countries have frequently issued signals to promote the "vaccine passport", casting a ray of early spring sunshine for the recovery process in the field of global personnel exchanges and economic and trade exchanges. The controversies that follow have also aroused the attention of the international community.
What role can the "vaccine passport" play in the recovery of global economic and trade?
This newspaper has an in-depth dialogue with three experts to interpret for you.
Why is the implementation of the "vaccine passport" frequently raised by many countries?
On January 21, Iceland became the first European country to provide a certificate for the new crown vaccine.
At present, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Cyprus and other countries have expressed their support for the implementation of the "vaccine passport."
The President of the European Commission von der Lein expressed his support for the establishment of a universal vaccine certificate for the European Union to facilitate the movement of citizens of member states within the European Union.
According to the New York Times, a "vaccine passport" is a document that proves that the holder has been vaccinated against the new crown vaccine, which will eventually be presented on the mobile phone in the form of an "electronic certificate".
International travelers can use the "vaccine passport" to be exempted from quarantine or COVID-19 testing. In some countries, they can also use this to go to restaurants and participate in large gatherings.
Cui Hongjian: The European Union proposes a "vaccine passport", and the priority is to solve the problem of the movement of people among the member states of the European Union.
The main purpose of the EU's move is to ensure the openness of the member states, and the movement of people in the Schengen area is not excessively affected by the epidemic.
As for the EU's opening of personnel exchanges to other countries, the current epidemic prevention situation and objective conditions are not yet mature.
In terms of foreign cooperation, the mutual recognition of vaccines between the EU and the United States will be given priority because the vaccination strategies and vaccination speeds in Europe and the United States are relatively coordinated.
The EU and China differ greatly in vaccination strategies, but there is a good foundation for communication between China and Europe. Previously, in terms of industrial supply chains, China and Europe had green and fast channels that were open to goods and specific personnel.
China and Europe are expected to carry out further coordination on personnel mobility.
Wang Yiwei: As far as the European Union is concerned, the tourism industry of the member states is relatively developed.
Countries where tourism accounts for a large proportion of the national economy, such as Greece, Spain, Italy and other countries, are relatively supportive of the initiative to promote the "vaccine passport".
They hope that personnel exchanges will be smoother to promote the development of their country's tourism industry.
However, different member states within the European Union have different attitudes towards the implementation of the "vaccine passport." Some countries, including France and Germany, are worried about relaxing travel restrictions for those who have been vaccinated, and discriminating against others who are still waiting to be vaccinated.
This shows that there are differences within the EU on the "vaccine passport."
Su Xiaohui: The epidemic has brought the pause button to people's exchanges around the world, and it has also had a huge impact on the global goods supply chain and industrial chain.
Many countries are considering implementing a "vaccine passport" precisely based on their urgent need to resume economic and trade exchanges.
At present, some countries have achieved certain results in epidemic prevention and control, and the new crown vaccine is also being promoted. For these countries, making personnel exchanges more convenient has become an action that can be considered in the next stage.
During the National Two Sessions this year, China proposed to issue an international travel health certificate.
This shows that after the epidemic prevention and control has entered a relatively controllable stage, it is a general trend for countries around the world to gradually resume personnel and economic and trade exchanges in an orderly manner under the premise of ensuring the safety of people's lives.
China has achieved major strategic results in epidemic prevention and control, and is willing to take the lead in exploring how to achieve international mutual recognition of health certificates, and provide a feasible reference plan to discuss and practice with countries around the world.
However, the international mutual recognition of health certificates requires multi-country exchanges and consultations, and a country’s proposal requires the response and approval of other countries to form consensus and joint efforts, so as to work together to build a new order of healthy, safe and orderly personnel exchanges.
What are the obstacles and risks facing the implementation of the "vaccine passport"?
Although many countries have stated that they are advancing the "vaccine passport" work, there are always voices of controversy and doubts.
French Minister of European Affairs Clement Bona stated that France is not yet able to provide vaccines for everyone, and it is unfair to implement a "vaccine passport" now.
The EU is facing the dilemma of a shortage of vaccines, and the vaccination plans of some other developing countries are even more difficult.
The WHO recently stated that it currently does not support the new crown "vaccine passport" approach.
The WHO Emergency Committee explained: "There are still too many unknowns regarding the effectiveness of the new crown vaccine in reducing the spread of the virus. Even after the new crown vaccine is vaccinated, personal protective measures should still be taken."
Cui Hongjian: The international community’s worries and controversy over the "vaccine passport" have exposed the problem of vaccine distribution hidden behind the "vaccine passport".
The global distribution of the new crown vaccine once again reflects the inequality in the international community due to the gap between the rich and the poor and the different comprehensive national strengths.
Countries that are underdeveloped in terms of economic and scientific research capabilities are in depressions for vaccine distribution and vaccination, and urgently await the assistance of the international community.
However, developed countries have adopted national priority strategies in terms of vaccine supply and vaccination.
The unequal distribution of vaccines makes it difficult to implement the "vaccine passport" among countries with large differences in vaccination levels.
Differences in vaccine strategies between countries also make it more difficult to coordinate vaccine mutual recognition.
In addition, in the field of new crown vaccine promotion, vaccines produced in different countries are showing a competitive situation, which affects the safety certification of different vaccines in various countries.
Therefore, in terms of vaccine safety mutual recognition, multilateral cooperation can save costs and improve the credibility and authority of certification standards. This may be a relatively efficient and feasible way to promote the "vaccine passport".
Wang Yiwei: In the context of the global spread of the epidemic, contradictions caused by political localization, nationalization, and nationalism have always existed on a global scale.
The partial restart of economic globalization also involves this issue: some people enjoy the benefits of free movement, which may cause discrimination against others.
The implementation of the "vaccine passport" may affect the international order after the epidemic, and increase the inequality between the strong and the weak in the international community, between developed and developing countries, and within countries.
There is not much experience in how to deal with the legal rules, supervision, ethics and other issues involved in the "vaccine passport".
The international mutual recognition of health codes also involves technical issues such as face recognition, network supervision, and data security.
Therefore, behind the implementation of the "vaccine passport" are multiple games at the economic, political, ethical, and technical levels.
Su Xiaohui: At present, there are still some uncertainties in the implementation of the "vaccine passport".
On the one hand, how to judge the effectiveness of vaccination, many countries have not yet formed clear standards and programs.
On the other hand, the mutual recognition of vaccine safety standards between different countries requires communication and negotiation.
In addition, differences in management in different countries may bring about loopholes and risks in epidemic prevention, and increase the pressure on epidemic prevention.
Although some countries have already proposed the implementation of a "vaccine passport", the details have yet to be implemented, and there is still a certain distance from implementation.
How to implement the "vaccine passport" not only requires some countries to propose plans and share experience, but also requires communication and consultation among multiple countries, and joint exploration and advancement.
What does the "vaccine passport" mean for the global recovery?
The British "Guardian" reported that under the implementation of the "Vaccine Passport", people's free consumption and movement can quickly promote economic development; at the same time, the "Vaccine Passport" can also encourage citizens to receive new crown vaccination.
Citizens holding a "vaccine passport" can enjoy a higher degree of freedom of movement. Driven by this freedom, more citizens will be willing to receive the new crown vaccine.
Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, said that the "vaccine passport" may be crucial to restarting the tourism industry.
Su Xiaohui: Under the premise of ensuring the safety of epidemic prevention, the implementation of the "vaccine passport" has a positive effect on the restoration of global personnel exchanges, economic and trade exchanges, and the smooth operation of the global industrial chain and supply chain.
This is also a process that the world will inevitably go through in the post-epidemic era after the epidemic situation of various countries has entered a relatively controllable state.
China’s launch of the International Travel Health Certificate is a concrete measure taken by China to promote international anti-epidemic cooperation and promote the gradual recovery of the world from the epidemic.
Wang Yiwei: The new crown pneumonia epidemic has a profound impact on economic globalization. One of the important manifestations is that the economic activities of people-to-person contact have been greatly impacted.
How to partially restart economic globalization on the basis of safety and reliability, countries all over the world are thinking of ways.
In the post-epidemic era, economic recovery will be an important task faced by all countries in the world.
The recovery of global supply chains and the development of the real economy are closely related to the free circulation of people and goods.
Cui Hongjian: At present, many national defense epidemics have entered a controllable stage. In order to restore the normal state of international exchanges as soon as possible and reduce the secondary disasters caused by the epidemic to the country's economy and society, the implementation of a "vaccine passport" is a necessary step for countries to recover from the epidemic.
The main purpose of the implementation of the "vaccine passport" is to promote the gradual liberalization of the free movement of people between countries on the basis of the certification of epidemic prevention safety.
For many countries, restoring personnel exchanges is helpful and necessary for restoring normal social interactions, ensuring social stability, and calming people's emotions.
Although the epidemic has made online office and other network technologies widely used in economic activities, offline and face-to-face communication is still irreplaceable.
In this sense, the "vaccine passport" is a necessary measure to ensure that the impact of the epidemic on economic activities is reduced as soon as possible.
In the long run, after mankind has effectively controlled the new coronavirus, the orderly and liberalized movement of people is an indispensable part of economic activities.
Using the "vaccine passport" to avoid the forced transformation and transfer of the global industrial chain and supply chain due to the impact of the epidemic, to restore orderly flow as soon as possible, and to reduce economic costs is also to protect the foundation of economic globalization.