Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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678. To ask the Minister for Health the consideration his Department has given to the proposal to introduce a vaccine passport that would be aimed at facilitating international travel; if the consideration of such an initiative will take into account the fact that there is no evidence at present that the vaccine protects against transmission of the virus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3672/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to differentiate between a vaccine certificate, the purpose of which is to identify and monitor people who have been vaccinated, with the notion of an immunity passport which might exempt people from public health measures on the basis that the person is purportedly immune to SARS-CoV-2.

Vaccine certificates are required in order to keep track of which vaccine (including which batch of a vaccine) has been given to a person and on which dates. This allows for follow up and monitoring of any adverse events. The HSE is planning for the production of vaccine certificates at part of its implementation planning for a COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Immunity passports are problematic on a number of grounds. It is not yet clear if the proposed vaccines for COVID-19 actually stop people getting the virus. It is also not clear whether the thresholds for protective immunity are the same in all groups e.g. older persons or those who are immunosuppressed. Thus, it is premature to discuss immunity passports due to the many uncertainties that still exist regarding immunity against the novel coronavirus. The WHO has cautioned Governments against introducing immunity passports at this time and has advised that the focus should be on vaccine certificates.