There has been a lot of news lately about vaccine “passports”. New York State created its own digital pass; Florida and Texas tried to outlaw them; and the former Baltimore health commissioner wrote that we should not use the word “passport,” at all, which she called a divisive phrase that could provoke reactions to vaccines.
What exactly are these credentials?
What is a vaccine “passport”?
Although we typically think of passports as government-issued travel documents, many people use the same term to refer to digital certificates to prove vaccination status, which are used to access events or companies, such as a QR code on a smartphone. show before entering a stadium.
When used to describe national health certificates, the term “passport” is already controversial because of the connotations of authoritarian government and Big Brother fears. The idea, however, is not new. Vaccines have long been needed to travel, attend public school, and work in certain industries, such as health care.
“There is no national passport,” said Arthur Caplan, founding director of the Medical Ethics Division at New York University. Misconceptions about vaccine steps could scare people, he explained, into believing they will be arrested or stopped and they will be asked to show vaccine papers, which is not the case.
“That’s what makes people nervous and it’s a term we should stop using nationwide,” said Caplan, who uses “vaccine authentication” and “certification” to describe digital proof of vaccination.
The White House has distanced itself from any federal vaccine certificate or approval, preferring to leave the problem to businesses and private states. Vaccines are currently used under emergency use authorization, meaning they are not required by the federal government, although they may be state and local governments, as well as employers of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of way they encourage people to get the shots are a priority for public health officials.
“There will be no universal federal immunization database and no federal mandate to force everyone to obtain a single immunization credential,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a news conference in March. . “We believe it will be driven by the private sector,” Psaki added.
New York became the first state to offer digital vaccination tests. The Excelsior Pass smartphone app allows fully vaccinated residents to show a QR code to businesses as proof of their vaccination status. People with recent negative COVID-19 tests can use the app similarly to enter events. “Participation in the Excelsior Pass is voluntary,” the state notes. “New Yorkers can always show alternative vaccination tests or trials, such as another mobile app or a paper form, directly on a business or site.”
The Vaccination Credential Initiative, a group of public and private organizations, works to provide guidelines for digital vaccination testing to companies such as airlines.
As for not centralizing federal vaccine data, Caplan believes it is a wrong move. “We would be absurd not to install a system that does not allow re-access to anyone who may need a booster shot,” he said.
What are the advantages of the vaccination test to enter companies?
In short, the opportunity to resume life more normally in certain environments.
“These are digital opportunities to show that people have been vaccinated to access places where it is perceived that this will increase safety,” said Eric Feldman, a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
Vaccine certification could also benefit besieged companies, which could open up with more capacity if employers and staff are vaccinated.
Regarding legal issues related to the denial of a customer’s entry to a restaurant, Fedman noted that private establishments currently set all sorts of rules about who can enter the venue. “As long as these rules don’t violate clear categories that would represent discrimination, I think they remain a pretty solid footing,” he said.
Colleges and universities, including Cornell University and Rutgers University, have already announced that they will require testing for COVID-19 vaccination for students enrolling in the fall.
“They’re saying that if you want to come to school here and spend some time on campus, you have to get vaccinated,” Feldman said. “Do they have a good public health justification for that? I think so.”
With only a quarter of American adults fully vaccinated, vaccination certifications “will be essential to keeping people safe and helping those who have taken the necessary steps to protect themselves and others to return to the things they love.” said the doctor of internal medicine and instructor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and an ABC News contributor.
“We are in an arms race between vaccines and variants,” Bhatt added. “We can’t allow unvaccinated people to be in environments where the virus wins, which causes rises.”
Why is it controversial?
Critics on both sides of the aisle have concerns.
The governors of Texas and Florida issued executive orders seeking to prohibit state entities and, in some cases, private companies from requiring vaccination testing to receive services, on the grounds that these requirements violate freedom and privacy. individuals.
“Unfortunately, it’s just one more example of the degree to which public health around COVID-19 has been so extraordinarily politicized,” Feldman noted. Still, he worries that states and businesses are pushing people too hard to meet public health guidelines.
“We have seen what happens with mask mandates, where reluctance becomes an absolute denial, revolution and fury among people who feel their civil liberties and their fundamental rights to make decisions about their own health and well-being.” dit.
Others have suggested that requiring vaccination testing could deepen existing inequalities and worsen the digital divide.
“Vaccine passports can pose an ethical and moral issue for COPD and other at-risk communities that have difficulty obtaining the vaccine because of access, their working hours, and other life responsibilities,” Bhatt said. , who noted that jobs should provide support and rest. or in situ vaccines for vulnerable populations.
According to Feldman, the potential to create a two-tier system, where people with the best access to the vaccine can access restaurants and sporting events, creates an ethical situation.
“This may turn out to be a litigious issue as a civil rights issue,” he said.
Caplan dismissed the equity argument based on the fact that increasing the supply of vaccines should allow all the United States that wants a vaccine to be able to get one in the coming months.
“That’s not penalizing those who don’t get vaccinated,” Caplan said. “It’s to reward those who do and for the government to be able to follow up so we can respond if there’s a new outbreak or we need drivers.”