A participant, left, takes part in a trial of the "CommonPass" app that indicates a traveler's COVID-19 status at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Monday. Photo: KYODO
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ANA conducts COVID digital health passport trial at Tokyo airport

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No vaccination = No air travel. An app accepted worldwide to confirm vaccination status should encourage rapid vaccination. The government reports that it will have enough doses for the country's 126 million people by June. Possessing the vaccine is great. But how quickly will Japan’s local governments be able to administer those doses?

-24 ( +15 / -39 )

I agree!

For air traveling I support a vaccination App or a vaccination passport.

Like I said before, I am doing many many business trips and I would feel much better if I know that everyone is vaccined on my flight.

And most of my flights are with ANA.

Anyway the best airline I ever used.

So if ANA requires a vaccination passport, App or whatever confirmation from me that I am vaccined, I am OK with that.

-12 ( +20 / -32 )

The Vaccine Passport / Digital ID has always been the endgame of this crisis. This was “conspiracy theory “ not so long ago

Take away our freedoms and then offer the a Big Brother solution.

Carrot and Stick!

9 ( +31 / -22 )

You don’t have to get vaccinated. But if you don’t, no travel, no concerts, not events, and that’s your choice. Sit home and stew.

-8 ( +23 / -31 )

Liberals that support this are not liberals. This is an invasion of personal rights. Literally forcing people to inject themselves with experimental drugs to participate in society. This is exactly something the nazis would do. Forced experimental medicine. Goes against the geneva convention.

3 ( +31 / -28 )

Liberals that support this are not liberals. This is an invasion of personal rights. Literally forcing people to inject themselves with experimental drugs to participate in society. This is exactly something the nazis would do. Forced experimental medicine. Goes against the geneva convention.

Dont like the new health passport system? Dont travel. Simple as that. Ranting about it wont change a thing. Just stay where you are forever.

-15 ( +19 / -34 )

Why an app ?

Batteries can stop working, phones can have a technical issue, network not available.

Better a paper with a banko

At that time, is there any law backing this ? Airlines can not impose that without any law ? Kono said he will not force vaccination as some with health conditions can not get it. Will he say something against ANA ? No, he hopes this as all foreigners coming here will have to get vaccinated.

@Monty

It has been proven that a plane is a safe place and transmission very rare, as the air system is very good. Your local papa mama restaurant is more dangerous

1 ( +17 / -16 )

I do not trust this vaccine as of yet. I need to know it is 100% safe. However trials take much more time to know if the vaccine is safe. Having said that, not air travel for me until I know this vaccine is safe. Safety is the No. 1 importance for me and any company I come into contact with. Agree?

-1 ( +19 / -20 )

I already have a passport. I have a right to travel. Forcing me and my family to put experimental drugs in us just to visit our family members is inhumane and wrong. People supporting this are on the wrong side of history.

2 ( +27 / -25 )

*I do not trust this vaccine as of yet.** I need to know it is 100% safe.*

Nothing is 100% safe. You do not take any medications? Don’t eat or drink? Leave the house?

I am against vaccination passports as vaccinations do not stop you catching or passing on the virus. Also, in the UK we do not have ID cards, people do not want them, so a vaccine passport would face legal challenges. The government is trying to push through producing photo ID to vote, this is being challenged in the courts as ID cards by stealth.

-6 ( +12 / -18 )

I already have a passport. I have a right to travel

But you have no right to expose unnecessarily anybody. This is nothing new and vaccination requirements for travel have existed for decades. There is nothing experimental that you need to use, a corroborated safe and effective vaccine that is much less risky than the natural infection is a perfectly valid requirement.

-16 ( +13 / -29 )

Oh yeah but “nobody” is pushing for a vaccine passport we are told.

same here just a friendlier name. Is there a cute mascot yet?

9 ( +20 / -11 )

I already have a passport. I have a right to travel.

Since when has a passport - owned by the issuing government - granted an individual a "right to travel"?

Since never, thats when.

-16 ( +11 / -27 )

I'm curious how the app works. If I test positive or negative for the Covid-19, how does the app know this? Do I need to take my phone to the hospital or city hall to get some kind of confirmation? If I get vaccinated, does the inoculator fill out some digital certificate that the app recognizes?

As a foreigner in Japan, I'm going to assume this process is going to involve a lot of hankos and running around town on a work day. I'll probably also have to update my mobile device and get the latest version of whatever. No thanks.

-1 ( +11 / -12 )

This is nothing new at all. Seems that most of the posters here are too young to remember, or never used the yellow International Certificates of Vaccination book. In (at least) the '70s and '80s you needed to be vaccinated for diseases like Yellow Fever and get the stamp to prove it in the book before you could travel to certain countries. Every thing old is new again. It is not a big deal.

-14 ( +8 / -22 )

@Whatsnext

"I already have a passport. I have a right to travel. Forcing me and my family to put experimental drugs in us just to visit our family members is inhumane and wrong. People supporting this are on the wrong side of history."

You are right. We will not understand this until the future tells is that the vaccine was not tested enough and the side affects are deeper and longer lasting than anyone realized.

2 ( +18 / -16 )

WhatsnextToday 08:10 am JST

Liberals that support this are not liberals. This is an invasion of personal rights. Literally forcing people to inject themselves with experimental drugs to participate in society. This is exactly something the nazis would do. Forced experimental medicine. Goes against the geneva convention.

No, this is not an invasion of personal rights. Same as the passport you mention in your other post. You were issued a travel passport. How is that less invasion of your personal rights?

Great fallacy, reductio ad hitlerum. Please read the Geneva convention. It's belongs among basic education in many countries. The Geneva Conventions establish the standards of international law for humanitarian treatment in war.

WhatsnextToday 08:38 am JST

I already have a passport. I have a right to travel. Forcing me and my family to put experimental drugs in us just to visit our family members is inhumane and wrong

No, you do not have a passport. A passport is a travel document issued by a country's government to its citizens that verifies the identity and nationality of the holder for the purpose of international travel. The passport has been only issued to you and does not belong to you. Passports are government property, and may be limited or revoked at any time.

Travelling is not a right, it's a privilige granted to you by your country and the country/countries you are traveling to.

No one is forcing you and your family to put any drugs in you just to visit your family members. You don't want any drugs? Fine. The airline/rail company/bus company has the right to refuse you. They cannot force you, you cannot force them. It's simple as that. Forcing you would be like holding a gun to your head or so.

Michael MachidaToday 08:27 am JST

I do not trust this vaccine as of yet. I need to know it is 100% safe. However trials take much more time to know if the vaccine is safe. Having said that, not air travel for me until I know this vaccine is safe. Safety is the No. 1 importance for me and any company I come into contact with. Agree?

Good luck with 100% safe anything. Even Aspirin, which is with us for 100 years (and salicylate is known for several thousand years) is not 100%. Nothing is 100% safe. You cannot rule out all combinations of all aspects possible. If anyone claims anything is 100% safe, it's just a snake oil.

-7 ( +13 / -20 )

Yeah, this app will work for about five minutes. And when they realize that no Japanese have been vaccinated yet, they'll either switch it to "optional" to be vaccinated, or just quit using the app.

18 ( +23 / -5 )

samuraivunylToday 09:11 am JST

@whatsnext

You have the right to travel????? Really???? In which constitution is that written ????????

I guess in their own sovereign citizen movement constitution. Or maybe The Turner Diaries.

-15 ( +3 / -18 )

I mean, I knew this was where we were heading back when this whole nonsense started in early 2020, but it still hurts to see it all slowly being rolled out.

-9 ( +8 / -17 )

While it may be a good idea in principle, it seems a bit unfair to impose that on people in Japan since we can't even get a vaccine if we want one. Not for the foreseeable future, anyway.

-10 ( +3 / -13 )

Covid vaccines have Not been adequately tested (or not at all) on Females with regard to future Childbearing!

-14 ( +7 / -21 )

Don’t see anywhere mentioning you need the vaccine just a negative test to fly.The vaccine is not 100% effective and it is not impossible to be a carrier either. The vaccine may not even work against new variants or be less effective.

-12 ( +7 / -19 )

falseflagsteveToday  09:53 am JST

Don’t see anywhere mentioning you need the vaccine just a negative test to fly.

As far as this article goes you are right. However, it does mention............

It (the app) certifies both coronavirus test results and vaccination status.

The example shown in the article only mentioned test result and not vaccination status.

At Tokyo's Haneda airport, ANA officials checked a passenger's smartphone to confirm negative virus test results at a check-in counter for a flight departing for New York.

-12 ( +2 / -14 )

Info is incomplete.

Does the private taken tests compute for the app, or has to be a public hospital?

What countries are using this app?

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

I expect these "passports" will be tested legally soon. I am no anti-vaxxer, but you cannot restrict someones freedom of movement. Therefore, I would expect this all to be tested soon in Europe or North American courts...

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

I don't have amazing faith in apps, but I hope this works and it's good to test it now rather than waiting until travel actually starts up again. I've not travelled recently but I would imagine whatever they have at the moment, checking for proof of negative tests etc., for the tiny number of passengers will not scale up to a more normal level of users. Some way of making the thing more automated and smoother is going to be necessary. Without it, expect very long queues at check-in.

I've not seen my mother for over three years now. I made the mistake of passing up 2019 for a big trip for her eightieth birthday in April 2020, which we couldn't do.

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

It certifies both coronavirus test results and vaccination status.

So for, at least, people which can not take vaccine : test will be featured.

I agree about the app being a bad idea. People not having phone / Phone not working / Safety concern including having a staff just pick up every single phone to check it out in the middle of the pandemic as show in the picture. Paper version which could be in the form of a stamp (like visa) in the passeport or whatever should be available.

Regarding right to travel it is part of freedom of movement which is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement

It can obviously be restricted for specific reason (I do not think not owning a smartphone will be considered as an acceptable one).

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Great it is backed by the WEF. But until the WHO and the UN also back it, I remain skeptical.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Requiring vaccination to travel is nothing new. And is qualifying for a visa for a place like North Korea, Russia; Brazil etc any different? The host country is vetting you and qualifying here is relatively simple, get the shot. I live in the US where pretty much anyone can come and go right now but I’d gladly trade that for much less severe Covid problem Japan is experiencing.

-9 ( +4 / -13 )

The idea of a worldwide standardized vaccination pass at first though may be attractive but how do we ensure this wont result in discrimination, granting of privileges to the well connected, disadvantaging those who cant get access to vaccines, and will it absolve travelers from still being Covid tested? Different vaccines have different efficacies, some offer mere reduction of symptoms some even prevent the infection completely meaning you cant infect other people . There also has to be a real practical solution about this as we all already being greatly inconvenienced by sometimes hours of queuing up in security checks because Airports do not provide enough staff at the gates we as passengers have to go all that hassle and a 2-4 hour flight within Asia become a 12-16 hour full day trip !

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

A significant portion of the public do not want the vaccine. They are youngish, healthy and know better. Thats why so many in healthcare are rejecting it.

by the way, believers; Canada just suspended the Astra Zeneca vaccine for anyone under the age of 55. This comes just 2 weeks after the government said it was safe.

Everyone paying attention? Good. Lets see how this rolls out in the next 2 months or so.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

A PCR test is all that is needed to fly now and as that shows a person does not have the virus then that is enough for me...

3 ( +6 / -3 )

What about persons who may not have smartphones? Does it mean that they will not be among the privileged number who are permitted to travel? Believe it or not, there are many people across the world (both in developing and developed countries) who do not have smart devices or tablets.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Even if you are vaccinated, is not guaranteed or known that you can't become infected and transmit the virus. The only difference is that your body is protected from a more severe form of the disease.

So the only thing that counts for me is that you have a negative test.

But it will be funny to watch the reactions of the vaccinated, when they get quarantined.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

This "no one" is forcing you argument that the left keeps using is getting old.

No one's forcing me to wear a mask but if you want to feed your family and keep a roof over your head you have to.

No one's forcing you to take an experimental drug to see your family, but if you ever want your children to meet their grandparents again you have to make them take the shot.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Another “temporary” measure. Just follow along, for now. it will be ok, we promise.

Kinda like the last 20 years of taking off our shoes as we pass through security?

9 ( +10 / -1 )

To everyone who thinks this is a good idea, be careful what you wish for.

Freedoms are very difficult to get back once lost. And with governments around the world salivating over the potential control that a vaccine passport gives them to control the movements and purchases of people who disagree with them, we have to peacefully resist moves toward the papiere bitte future that awaits us if we blindly comply.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

A PCR test is all that is needed to fly now and as that shows a person does not have the virus then that is enough for me...

Not true. Many countries, like Japan, require quarantine and tracking for those quarantining. It’s no picnic getting the test done within the time frame neither, let alone try and get an approved test if you are not near a major city or in a country with limited testing facilities. It is not easy to travel internationally, so many variables that can go wrong.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

 If you really want to know all that’s going on, check out dollarvigilante dot tv homepage (go to videos page).

Or much better, use recognized sources that can be held responsible if they spread misleading or blatantly false information instead of reinforcing your personal bias on echo chambers.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I can't get the vaccine due to being allergic to vaccines, I get bad reactions to them. So does this mean that I can't fly anymore or is the vaccine only optional?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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