COVID is a passport to new national health database
It’s been a year of COVID-19 now, and we’ve had to learn to live with this pandemic. COVID has limited how we move in our communities and world, but at some point, we’ll travel again. Our resuming travel will have different challenges, like proof of immunity and ongoing restrictions. We can shape and ease this return to global movement with a new national health database that includes immunization status.
The idea of an immunization passport has taken hold, and not just in Canada. Many countries already require immunization proof for diseases like polio and yellow fever as part of the entry process. COVID currently has a wider, more devastating effect on the world than any other illness. It is only a matter of time that proof of COVID immunization becomes a requirement worldwide, too.
We can use this moment to help Canadian travellers have solid proof of certification, and add additional safety to travel, with a multilevel accessible national health database.
This new database could start with a formal record of COVID immunization and updates. This would override any concerns about forged COVID immunization records if Canada’s government standardizes its information access.
But why stop there? As Canadians, we typically travel extensively within our own country. Unfortunately, some of us need urgent medical help when visiting another province.
Having a quick list of health problems, previous surgeries and significant diagnostic tests would help doctors across the country treat out-of-province travellers with greater expediency.
Our health database would expand on what already occurs on provincial levels.
Each province computerizes medical records, but each database is overly inclusive and separate. Records are not easily accessible between provinces.
It’s a medical Tower of Babel for the digital age. There is a lot of information, more than is needed for any travel. A national health database could carry the most salient parts, such as chronic illness lists and concerning diagnostic results.
Consent will be a concern. It already is with discussion about immunity status, and how public we are as individuals with that information. Can we opt in or out? How many levels of access do we allow? We can separate our immunization records from the rest of our health records, but who gets to see that information beyond emergency departments, and doctors and clinics the patient gives consent to?
We aren’t at the point where travel has reopened, or we need proof of COVID immunization, but we will be. The time to have this dialogue about health information access is now, so we can prepare. We can use a new national health database to support health needs during travel. We can enhance medical care of travelling Canadians now and beyond.