THE ‘VACCINE PASSPORT’ TO NOWHERE
WE NEED to stop using the phrase “vaccine passport”. The term is inflammatory and divisive, and runs the real risk of triggering a lasting backlash against vaccinations.
It’s also inaccurate. A passport is understood as a government-issued document that provides proof of the carrier’s identity and citizenship. Israel’s “Green Pass” is a version of a vaccine passport; it is required for entry into gyms, theatres and other designated areas, and forgery of a pass is a crime.
While it has some fans, almost no one is proposing this kind of national ID for Covid-19 vaccination in the US.
Yet even the suggestion that Americans could be restricted from everyday activities is deeply upsetting to many. Rational counter arguments won’t work (for example, saying some countries already require vaccinations upon entry and Americans are already limited in many activities because of Covid-19). The prospect of a national tracking system smacks of Big Brother at best and fuels conspiracy theories at worst.
Instead of stoking culture wars with an imprecise term, we should describe how proof of vaccination can be used to help us to emerge faster from the pandemic.
At the most basic level, asking for vaccination status is a kind of health screen to identify those at low risk for infecting others. There is growing evidence that getting vaccinated doesn’t only protect you from becoming ill yourself; it also substantially reduces your risk of being an asymptomatic carrier who could make others sick.
I think it’s time for us to extend the newfound normalcy from social settings to business operations. While the CDC guidance discourages vaccinated people from gathering in public places, this should be overridden if businesses can verify vaccination status.
Imagine that you own a gym that used to have high-intensity exercise classes but had to stop because it’s high risk to have lots of people breathing heavily in crowded indoor spaces. You could reopen these classes if everyone attending is guaranteed to be vaccinated.
Imagine that you run a restaurant that has had to operate at 30% capacity to keep distancing between tables. You could establish certain nights where you serve at 100% capacity, if all patrons and servers are reliably known to be vaccinated.
Some entities are exploring such possibilities, including cruise operators and a handful of colleges. By requiring proof of vaccination, they will aim for herd immunity on their ships and campuses. Not only could they return to full operation, but also they could probably give their customers and students something close to the pre-pandemic experience, with full interaction and possibly without the need for masks.
In these examples, vaccination isn’t a government-imposed requirement but a voluntary action facilitated by the private sector. Any outcry over government overreach shouldn’t focus on proof of vaccination, but rather on attempts to ban businesses from asking for it.
Throughout the pandemic, there have been polarising terms that trigger fierce opposition. Just as we should never have invoked “lockdowns,” we need to stop debating “vaccine passports.”
Instead, we should define what it is that we need to move toward normalcy: a Covid-19 health screen that enables people to associate with one another free from pandemic restrictions. That’s a concept I hope most Americans can get behind.