Vaccination ‘passports’ may open society, but unequally
Violet TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — light bathed the club stage as 300 people, masked and socially distanced, erupted in gentle applause. For the first time since the pandemic began, Israeli musician Aviv Geffen stepped to his electric piano and began to play for an audience seated right in front of him.
“A miracle is happening here tonight,” Geffen told the crowd.
Still, the reanimating expe- rience Monday night above a shopping mall north of Tel Aviv night was not accessible to everyone. Only people displaying a “green passport” that proved they had been vaccinated or had recovered from COVID-19 could get in.
The highly controlled con- cert offered a glimpse of a future that many are longing for after months of COVID19 restrictions. Governments say getting vaccinated and having proper documentation will smooth the way to travel, entertainment and other social gatherings in a post-pandemic world.
But it also raises the pros- pect of further dividing the world along the lines of wealth and vaccine access, creating ethical and logistical issues that have alarmed decision-mak- ers around the world.
Other governments are watching Israel ch u rn through the world’s fastest vaccination program and grapple with the ethics of using the shots as diplomatic currency and power.
Inside Israel, green passports or badges obtained through an app is the coin of the realm. The country recently reached agreements with Greece and Cyprus to recognize each oth- er’s green badges, and more such tourism-boosting accords are expected.
Anyone un w illing or unable to get the jabs that confer immunity will be “left behind,” said Health Minister Yuli Edelstein.
“It’s really the only way forward at the moment,” Geffen said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The checks at the club’s doors, which admitted only those who could prove they are fully vaccinated, allowed at least a semblance of normality.
“People can’t live their lives in the new world with- out them,” he said. “We must take the vaccines. We must.”
The vaccine is not available to everyone in the world, whether due to supply or cost. And some people don’t want it, for religious or other reasons. In Israel, a coun- try of 9.3 million people, only about half the adult population has received the required two doses.
There is new pressure from the government to encourage vaccinations. Israeli lawmak- ers on Wednesday passed a law allowing the Health Ministry to disclose information on people who have yet to be vaccinated. Under the policy, names can be released to the ministries of education, labor, social affairs and social services, as well as local governments, “with the purpose of allowing these bodies to encourage people to get vaccinated.”
The government is appeal- ing to the emotional longing for the company of others -- in Israel’s storied outdoor markets, at concerts like Geffen’s, and elsewhere.
“With the Green Pass, doors just open for you. You could go out to restaurants, work out at the gym, see a show,” read an announcement on Feb. 21, the day much of the economy reopened after a six-week shutdown.
Then it raised a question at the center of the global quest to conquer the pan- demic that has hobbled econ- omies and killed nearly 2.5 million people:
“How to get the pass? Go and get vaccinated right now.”
It’s that simple in Israel, which has enough vaccine to inoculate everyone over 16, although the government has been criticized for shar- ing only tiny quantities with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week he intends to send excess vaccine to some of the country’s allies. Israel’s attorney general said the plan has been frozen while he reviews the legalities.