Coronavirus vaccine passports have led to an increase in people getting jabbed in countries with lower coverage, a study has found.

The impact of COVID-19 certification – which requires people to have proof of complete vaccination, negative test, or a recovery certificate – was analysed in six countries where it has been introduced this year.

Researchers used modelling to estimate the number of extra doses per population that were attributable to the policy.

How the rules for the unvaccinated vary around the world

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

This varied from 127,823 in France to 243,151 in Israel, 64,952 in Switzerland and 66,382 in Italy.

Professor Melinda Mills, the study’s lead author at the University of Oxford, said her team observed a “significant uptake” in the 20 days before passports were introduced, which lasted up to 40 days after.

In Denmark and Germany, where there were higher average vaccination rates, there was no significant increase in inoculation after coronavirus passports were introduced.

COVID-19: Omicron currently infecting 200,000 a day – as COVID passport changes announced

COVID-19: Tory backbenchers prepare to turn on Johnson over COVID restrictions as PM calls for a vaccine volunteer army

Human rights reforms slammed as an ‘unashamed power grab’ by government that wants to ‘put itself above the law’

Prof Mills said: “As mass vaccination programmes continue to play a central role in protecting public health in this pandemic, increasing vaccine uptake is crucial both to protect the individuals immunised and break chains of infection in the community.

“Our study is an important first empirical assessment of whether COVID-19 certification can form part of this strategy.”

Other factors like existing vaccination uptake, vaccine hesitancy, levels of trust in authorities, and trajectory of the pandemic were crucial to the impact of the policy, she said.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘A useful way to encourage complacent groups’

Dr Tobias Ruttenauer, co-author of the study, said: “It may be that COVID-19 certification is a useful way to encourage vaccine complacent groups, like young people and men, to get vaccinated.

“However, COVID-19 certification alone is not a silver bullet for improving vaccine uptake and must be used alongside other policies.”

Where vaccine hesitancy is due to a lack of trust in authorities, which is common among some people from ethnically diverse communities, targeted vaccine drives and community dialogue might be more effective solutions, he said.

Flavio Toxvaerd, a lecturer at the faculty of economics, University of Cambridge, said the study “confirms that people respond to incentives, in this case incentives to get vaccinated”.

“For those who are hesitant, different incentives can make the difference and requiring vaccine certification makes life for the unvaccinated more cumbersome,” he said.

Related posts:

Briton facing jail for sneaking out of Singapore quarantine hotel room to see fiancee First African woman to lead WTO after Biden lifts Trump block over job Experts puzzled by plummeting COVID-19 cases in India Former Olympic swimmer accused of running crime gang charged with trafficking £1.1m of meth Top Gear star and racing driver Sabine Schmitz dies, aged 51 Australia hits back at ‘flawed’ decision to put Great Barrier Reef on ‘in danger’ list Greek pilot accused of murdering British wife arrives at court with armed police escort COVID pass now needed for Eiffel Tower and other tourist hotspots in France US and Germany agree Nord Stream 2 pipeline deal and vow to counter Russian ‘aggression’ Problems grow for organisers of ‘most unpredictable’ Olympic Games Siberia battles wildfires after hottest and driest June for 133 years North Korea fires ‘new ballistic missile’ from submarine