Japan will start accepting applications for COVID-19 vaccination passports from July 26
Japan will start accepting applications for COVID-19 vaccination passports from July 26 for people who had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to travel internationally, said the top government spokesman.
On Sunday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on an NHK TV program that whether to use such certificates for domestic economic activities as business circles request was under consideration by the Japanese government, adding that people shouldn’t be discriminated against or forced unfairly because of whether they had been vaccinated against COVID-19 or not.
The COVID-19 vaccination certificates will be official records issued by municipalities as such certificates will show information about an administered COVID-19 vaccine, the COVID-19 vaccination date and location, and personal information such as name and passport number as well.
According to Kato, the COVID-19 vaccination certificates will be issued in paper form by the end of July and the digital certificates will be considered later.
The Japan Business Federation, the largest business lobby of Japan known as Keidanren, had suggested using the certificates for restaurant discounts in Japan and for raising event attendance caps.
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The COVID-19 vaccination certificates were also introduced in the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for international travelers from their member states.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government was stepping up the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in Japan. The program started last February with health care workers and expanded to those aged 65 or older from April.
Recently, vaccinations for people under 65 have started in some municipalities and companies can apply COVID-19 vaccines for their employees.
However, several municipalities were forced to restrict accepting reservations because of a recent supply shortfall of COVID-19 vaccines and new applications by companies have been suspended.
Suga had said that his goal was to complete vaccinations for all eligible people in Japan who wanted to receive COVID-19 vaccines by November.
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