Apps Now Being Developed for Global Vaccine Passport

Vaccine passports, hastily ushered in as a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic, are expected to become “widely available” during the first half of 2021. “Rest assured, the nerds are on it,” Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Linux Foundation, told CNN Business.¹

The Linux Foundation has partnered with IBM, the COVID-19 Credentials Initiative and CommonPass, a digital “health passport,” in order to develop vaccine credential apps that will be applicable globally.

If the initiative is successful, you’ll likely be required to pull up a vaccine certificate on your phone showing when and where you were vaccinated, along with which type of vaccine, in order to get on a plane or attend an indoor event, such as a concert, for starters.

“If we’re successful, you should be able to say: I’ve got a vaccine certificate on my phone that I got when I was vaccinated in one country, with a whole set of its own kind of health management practices … that I use to get on a plane to an entirely different country and then I presented in that new country a vaccination credential so I could go to that concert that was happening indoors for which attendance was limited to those who have demonstrated that they’ve had the vaccine,” Behlendorf said.²

The notion of having to present proof of a voluntary medical procedure in order to travel or attend public events is unprecedented in the U.S., but is being presented as a measure to protect public health. In reality, your freedom to go about your normal, daily life is being threatened, unless you consent to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. And this may only be the beginning.