Vaccinated tourists who enter Israel may soon be eligible to receive the equivalent of an Israeli green passport, allowing them access to hotels, restaurants and attractions, a government official said Sunday.
Israel is in advanced conversations with the US and several European countries to recognize vaccination certificates, he told The Jerusalem Post.
Last week, Israel announced it will open the country to vaccinated tourists traveling in groups starting on May 23. If the infection rate continues to remain stable, it might begin to accept individual travelers as well, it said.
Foreign nationals with a first-degree relative who is an Israeli citizen or permanent resident have also been allowed to visit since the beginning of the month, provided that they are vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus.
In both cases, a serological test is required upon arrival to prove the presence of antibodies in the blood and be released from mandatory quarantine.
However, several venues, including hotels, indoor restaurants and event and cultural halls, can be accessed only through a so-called green passport, a document that features a QR code and an ID number.
According to the official, the health and tourist authorities are sorting out the issue and hope to announce the logistical details by the end of the month.
The goal is to ensure that vaccinated tourists can be treated as if they had a green passport.
One possibility currently being considered for those who arrive in Israel is to generate a QR code connected to their passport number, similar to what is done for foreign diplomats living in Israel and vaccinated in the country.
The QR code could be issued to visitors at Ben-Gurion Airport after they undergo a serological test. The authorities are considering deploying saliva serological tests that do not require blood work and offer results in about 15 minutes, the Health Ministry said earlier this month.
Hopefully, Israel will accept vaccination or recovery certificates from at least some countries by May 23, the official said.
Some states already recognize health documents issued by Israel, including Greece, Cyprus and Georgia, but Jerusalem does not yet recognize foreign certificates.
Mutual recognition of vaccination certificates between Israel and the US might take a long time because of digital requirements from both sides, a government official said last month.