Are we about to see the beginning of the mark of the beast or just another silly health precaution reaching out too far? 

In an article from Yahoo! Life today, countries from Europe are preparing to release a new app featuring a scannable QR barcode telling officials if any individual is free of the Covid 19 virus, recently tested negative or has been documented to have been fully vaccinated. 

Reporting from Copenhagen, Denmark presented the new digital passport as a way of tracking travel and monitoring actions by its own people within Europe and potentially further across the globe. Beginning July 1st, people will need the passport to go to the store, get a haircut, eat at a restaurant or travel anywhere within Europe. 

During a press conference outside the Copenhagen airport, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke spoke out about the new app declaring, “What we get now is an app that makes it easier and simpler to use. There is no doubt that we will have to use it over the summer, but it is of course something that needs to be phased out”. He showed the audience a sample of how the app works, flashing green if any human is free to travel or flashing red if there is a violation of their health codes further blocking travel. 

Oddly enough, Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen said if the app flashes red it will not say why. So if the app decides a human cannot travel, it will not give you a reason or feedback for doing so, seemingly opening the door for potential abuse and misuse. 

The article itself says that Wammen is unsure if the collective nations within the European Union will be prepared for the transition into the new technology by July 1st, but that Denmark will be ready to lead the way in this new system of action. It also goes on to say that the app “allowing residents to reunite with friends and relatives” will seemingly be a good thing for the people. But as individual humans across Earth face different rules and regulations concerning the Coronavirus, shouldn’t everyone already have the right to spend time with friends and family as they please? Certainly this is not the case in many places around the world, but the expectation of the capability to do so is completely understandable and should also be brought up when discussing these topics around the world. 

In the United States, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a release on April 6th that the Federal Government is “not now nor will be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential”. Let us hope that this remains the case here, no matter what the future holds with concern towards the Covid 19 pandemic. 

So far, several states have enacted legislation banning the vaccine passport requirements including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, South Carolina, Texas, Utah & Wyoming. Many other states have said publicly that they do not plan to support vaccine passports as being mandatory. 

In March, New York became the first state to launch its own vaccine passport, called the Excelsior Pass. So far, the app is free and voluntary. 

Several ally countries are already working on vaccination passports such as Israel and Japan, while ally countries in the Americas and Africa are continuing to keep it optional and questioning the validity of such a notion. When it comes to global travel, citizens of all countries will just have to wait and see what happens. China has already moved forward with vaccination passports through the WeChat app. 

If the virus comes back around here in the United States, here’s to hoping that at least the majority of states decide to continue supporting the freedoms of its own people to decide what is best for them and continue to not accept the idea of mandatory U.S. or global vaccination passports for travel and commerce.