Covid passports – inevitable?

Covid passports are the only way to restart mass foreign travel, according to Dubai Airports’ Chief Executive, Paul Griffiths. Describing the documents as “inevitable”, he told the BBC: “I don’t think there is an alternative.”

Critics of the digital systems argue they discriminate against those who cannot get vaccinated.

But Griffiths argues “The problem is not the vaccine passport and its discrimination. It’s the need to roll things out and have a proper globally equitable vaccine programme.”

He wants numbers using the Dubai hub to rise again after the Covid crisis saw annual passenger numbers fall 70% to 25.8m last year from 86.3m in 2019.

“We need to get into risk management rather than risk avoidance,” Griffiths added.

“I just don’t think the world can survive without that mobility for much longer, certainly socially and economically, but you can understand why countries around the world are being very conservative. The last thing any politician wants is a surge of infection on their turf.”

www.dubaiairports.ae

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