Vax passports road to haves, have-nots
Equity must be in mind when implementing system
Prepare to step into a new era of the pandemic that yet again will leave you thinking, “Who could have ever imagined this?”
It’s the era of “vaccine passports,” digital or paper certifications of coronavirus vaccination that could be required to return to the office, school, get on a plane or attend a large event.
The European Commission has already proposed “Digital Green Certificates” which would allow for travel within the European Union and serve as proof of vaccination, a negative coronavirus test result or previous infection.
Israelis are using a “green pass” to travel abroad, according to Ambassador Meron Reuben, Consul General of Israel to New England, and in Denmark, “Coronapas” will get residents into hair salons, cinemas and restaurants, as reported by the BBC.
The International Air Transport Association is also working to launch a digital travel pass that keeps track of vaccination requirements and several airlines are trying it out.
Coronavirus vaccination requirements are starting to pop up in the U.S. too.
Rutgers University on Thursday became the first college in the nation to require all students to be vaccinated before arriving on campus in the fall, though students may request an exemption for medical or religious reasons.
After the year we’ve had and the devastation the pandemic has caused, there are many important public health and economic benefits to implementing vaccine passports — but there are also a lot of problems that come along with it.
Vaccine passports can quickly create haves and have-nots of those who are free to enjoy certain activities while others are held back.
Many disadvantaged communities still do not have equal access to the vaccine, and some people across the board have medical conditions or other circumstances that preclude them from getting vaccinated at all, as I wrote about in a previous column.
Other individuals lack access to medical care in general, and may not even have medical records — never mind a vaccine passport.
In addition, about 94% of countries that have started vaccinating their populations are in the high- or high-middle-income category, according to the World Health Organization, and residents of some countries may not receive any vaccines this year.
“Individuals who do not have access to an authorized COVID-19 vaccine would be unfairly impeded
in their freedom of movement if proof of vaccination status became a condition for entry to or exit from a country,” read an interim position paper from the WHO.
The WHO said authorities shouldn’t introduce requirements for proof of coronavirus vaccination for international travel, in part saying, “preferential vaccination of travelers could result in inadequate supplies of vaccines for priority populations considered at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.”
There are other challenges to consider with vaccine passports as well.
Dr. Brian Cruz, regional medical director of PhysicianOne Urgent Care, noted difficulty in coordination between countries and states and concerns about whether patient information is adequately protected.
Dr. Robert Klugman, medical director of employee health and
occupational health at UMass Memorial Medical Center, said vaccine passports “run the risk of counterfeits, as well as the passport containing other confidential information which could get picked up and misused when passports are scanned.”
Dr. Shira Doron, hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center, added that many families still worry about the speed with which the vaccines were developed, making mandating them different from mandating other vaccines.
I strongly believe in the science of coronavirus vaccines and that everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated, should be vaccinated.
The use of vaccine passports now and into the future is inevitable, but it needs to be done with equity in mind so we don’t have privileged populations returning to “normal” before others.