Iceland trials IBM’s Excelsior Pass for travellers coming from New York

NordenBladet — The Icelandic Border Control has launched a pilot program to accept the Excelsior Pass at the countries border from passengers flying from New York. 

The Excelsior Pass is currently available to New Yorkers, a free voluntary digital health pass developed by New York State in partnership with IBM to verify their COVID-19 vaccination or test results.

The pilot program results will likely allow Iceland to accept and verify health credentials from the IBM Digital Health Pass platform.

The Excelsior Pass is a simple, secure way to share COVID-19 test results or vaccination status received from a trusted issuer. Each pass will have a secure QR code scanned at the Iceland border control system operated by Iceland based Origo to confirm someone’s COVID-19 health status. Individuals can either print out their pass or store it in the secure digital wallet application on their mobile phone.

According to current rules and until July 1st, all passengers must undergo a PCR-test for COVID-19 upon arrival in Iceland. In addition, all travellers to Iceland are required to fill out a pre-registration form before arrival.

Read more about the Excelsior Pass here.

Read more about the status of COVID in Iceland and how to get into the country here. The website is maintained & managed by the Directorate of Health and The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.