Let us hope that this ASEAN countries' initiative can converge digital technology for vaccination passportBali (ANTARA) - Countries in the ASEAN region support digital technology convergence for developing a globally accepted vaccine passport, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said at a press conference in Nusa Dua, here, on Saturday afternoon.
"We will issue a joint statement on ASEAN countries' adoption of health protocol standards. This is similar to what we will achieve at the G20," he explained.
Digital technology convergence for developing a vaccine passport was one of the agendas of the 15th ASEAN Health Ministers’ Meeting (AHMM), which discussed the ‘Mutual Recognition Arrangement on COVID-19 Health Certificates.’
Sadikin noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to countries adopting diverse health protocol standards, which often complicate matters for international travelers.
An example of this variation is the technology-based surveillance standard used by countries, such as PeduliLindungi (Indonesia) or Trace Together (Singapore).
"This initiative is done so that applications such as PeduliLindungi or Trace Together in Singapore, as well as those in other countries, can be interconnected with one another," he informed.
The proposed vaccine passport will adopt an overseas travel passport mechanism utilized by each country's immigration authority for ascertaining a traveler's identity.
"As a result, if we go abroad with a passport that is recognized in all countries, the immigration process also becomes similar. In the future, we wish to have a similar thing to occur for the health sector," the minister said.
"Hence, going in and out of a country utilizes the same instrument, namely passport," he added.
Travel businesses currently need vaccine certificates from travelers to confirm they are healthy to carry out travel-related activities.
For this reason, the health sector in the ASEAN region has proposed a digital-based vaccine passport as a single standard that can be recognized, acknowledged, and trusted by every country.
“(This is) Considering that we are now living in a more modern era; we are utilizing QR codes that follow WHO standards and only need to use applications that exist on our phone,” Sadikin said.
"PeduliLindungi and vaccination certificates are already digital and then there are QR codes. Thus, if we go to Singapore, we only need to scan and go on in," he added.
Digital technology convergence for vaccine passport development has so far been accepted by the European Union and is planned to be applied globally in every country.
"Let us hope that this ASEAN countries' initiative can converge digital technology for vaccination passport," he remarked.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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