SEOUL: South Korea mentioned on Apr 1 it’ll issue so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports to immunized residents, joining other nations introducing such certificates to revive cross-border travel while keeping infection risks under control.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun mentioned a mobile app, which will allow international travelers to show digital proof of vaccination, will be officially launched this month.
“The introduction of a vaccine passport or ‘Green Pass’ will only allow those who have been vaccinated to experience the recovery to their daily lives,” Chung informed a government meeting, adding the app uses blockchain technology to prevent counterfeit.
The adoption of vaccine passports has proved controversial in many nations. Whereas China and a few other nations have already introduced certificates and the European Union has bowed to stress from tourism-dependent southern nations to do so, other nations have faced strong opposition to the idea.
South Korea on Thursday expanded its vaccine roll-out, starting vaccinations of the general public aged 75 and older with the vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
More than 86 percent of the 3.5 million individuals in that age group have mentioned they plan to get the shot.
Around 877,000 first doses of the vaccine had been administered as of Wednesday, the Korea Disease Management and Prevention Agency (KDCA) mentioned.
The KDCA reported 551 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the nation’s total infections to 103,639, with 1,735 demises.