In another step on the road to international harmonization of digital vaccine certificates, IATA reports that that the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) and UK NHS COVID Pass can now be uploaded into the IATA Travel Pass as verified proof of vaccination for travel.

Travellers holding the British or European documents can now access accurate COVID-19 travel information for their journey, create an electronic version of their passport and import their vaccination certificate in one place, notes IATA. The information can be shared with airlines and border control authorities who can “have the assurance that the certificate presented to them is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it.”

“COVID-19 vaccination certificates are becoming a widespread requirement for international travel. Handling the European and UK certificates through IATA Travel Pass is an important step forward, providing convenience for travellers, authenticity for governments and efficiency for airlines,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Sr. VP for Operations Safety and Security.

IATA believes harmonization of digital vaccine standards is essential to support the safe and scalable restart of aviation, avoid unnecessary airport queues and ensure a smooth passenger experience.

Building on the EU/ DCC success, IATA is also urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to revisit its work to develop a global digital vaccine standard.

“The absence of a global standard makes it much harder for airlines, border authorities and governments to recognize and verify a traveller’s digital vaccination certificate,” says Careen. “The industry is working around this by developing solutions that can recognize and verify certificates from individual countries. But this is a slow process that is hampering the restart of international travel.

“As more states roll out their vaccination programs, many are urgently looking to implement technical solutions to provide vaccine certification for their citizens when they travel. In the absence of a WHO standard, IATA urges them to look closely at the EU DCC as a proven solution that meets WHO guidance and can help to reconnect the world.”