The slippery slope of vaccine passports
The development of a Covid vaccine within a year of the disease first appearing was an extraordinary scientific achievement. It offered the world the chance to break out of the lockdowns it had inflicted upon itself in a forlorn effort to stop the spread of the virus. But the vaccines have turned out to be a doubleedged sword. On the one hand they offer the route to normality, while on the other their very existence encourages governments to exercise greater caution than might otherwise have been the case. Had there been no vaccine, it is inconceivable, though not impossible (look at Australia), that leaders around the world would have continued to shut down economic activity and social interaction for as long as they have.
But, the fact that protection against the virus is available also lends itself to new risk aversion: why return to where we used to be before the jabs have been administered to as many people as possible?
At the beginning of the rollout, the only group to be covered comprised the nine most vulnerable categories, after which it was thought pressure on the NHS would ease and controls could be lifted. Then, ministers started to agitate for ever younger cohorts to be vaccinated even though they were at little risk.
Once a majority had been inoculated, it became a short step to insisting that without a jab certain activities would be proscribed, such as attending sporting events or going to a nightclub. Then, students were told they could not go back to university unless jabbed. And now, ministers are giving the green light to businesses to turn away employees who have not been vaccinated. Jabs for jobs, it is being called.
Just a few weeks ago, ministers were denying that any of these developments would transpire. Charitably, this flip-flopping is seen as a subtle way to “nudge” recalcitrant youngsters into getting a vaccine. Perhaps it will work and many of these threatened constraints will never actually happen.
But a future beckons where, to all intents and purposes, people will be required to have a vaccination not just for Covid but probably for influenza as well. For now, and somewhat cravenly, the Government is abrogating any responsibility to pass a law to this effect. But, if jobs, travel, studying and leisure are impossible without a vaccine, they won’t have to.