So farewell, then, to Israel’s vaccine passport, the green pass. Less than three months after coming into effect, the Covid vaccination certification scheme was scrapped today, along with almost all of the remaining Covid-19 restrictions in public places.
Israel was the first country to introduce a vaccine passport back in March. Cafes, bars, restaurants, gyms and plays were allowed to reopen to the public after months of lockdown, provided they only admitted vaccinated (and recovered) people. The pass took the form of a QR code downloaded from the health ministry or stored in a phone app.
The scheme was vocally opposed by a small and passionate minority, but most Israelis were just relieved to be able to return to something approaching normality. Restaurateurs and gym owners, meanwhile, were happy they could finally reopen, even if they were sometimes frustrated by the restrictions the green pass imposed. In particular, venues were effectively banned from admitting children, who aren’t eligible for vaccination — fine for bars, terrible for cinemas and ice cream parlours.
The scaremongers who said that vaccine certificates would be some lasting form of social control were wrong.
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