Health experts are deeply concerned

LONDON – Public health officials and civil liberties organizations are urging policymakers to resist requests for passports for the coronavirus vaccine, at a time when many countries are reviewing whether to introduce digital passes.

The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union are some of those considering whether to introduce a digital passport that will allow citizens to prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

The certificate system could be used to travel abroad, as well as to grant access to places such as restaurants and bars.

It is believed that a digital passport could help stimulate economic recovery as countries prepare to relax public health measures over the coming weeks. The troubled airline industry, especially affected by the spread of the virus last year, is one of those calling on governments to introduce legislation to support Covid vaccine passports.

However, doctors and advocacy groups are deeply concerned.

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist at Queen Mary University in London, told CNBC by telephone that vaccine passports could be used unintentionally to provide “false guarantees” to holidaymakers.

“I can see that they could be useful in the long run, but I have several concerns for them to consider at this time when I think the scientific evidence does not support them. And there are many ethical concerns I think are legitimate,” Gurdasani said Thursday.

Among these scientific concerns, Gurdasani said it is clear that the offer of protection against coronavirus vaccines is “very far” from being complete and “we know very little about the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing infections or even asymptomatic diseases against various variants circulating in different countries “.

In addition, most countries do not have sufficient access to vaccines to immunize their populations and Gurdasani warned that a certificate system similar to vaccine passports would discriminate against these populations “even more”.

President Joe Biden, the first full day in office last month, outlined a 200-page national coronavirus pandemic strategy. The plan included a directive for various government agencies to “assess the feasibility” of linking Covid’s features to international vaccination certificates and producing digital versions of them.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, has also ordered a review of vaccine passports, while the European Council is due to meet on Thursday to discuss the next steps in the deployment and movement of EU vaccines through the bloc from 27 countries.

The International Air Travel Association, which represents some 290 airlines around the world, has seen a growing number of airlines sign up for its so-called IATA Travel Pass. The initiative is designed to help passengers manage their travel plans and provide evidence to airlines and governments that have been vaccinated or tested to detect Covid-19.

In a letter seen by EURACTIV, IATA called on EU leaders to meet on Thursday to approve vaccine passports and reach an agreement “on the crucial role of secure digital solutions, such as the IATA Travel Pass”. IATA was not immediately available for comment when CNBC contacted him on Thursday.

Currently, the World Health Organization is not interested in vaccine passports. In a statement issued on January 28, WHO officials said governments “should not introduce vaccination or immunity test requirements for international travel as a condition of entry.”

The United Nations health agency added: “There are still critical unknowns about the effectiveness of vaccination in reducing the transmission and limited availability of vaccines.”

A report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit last month projected that most of the adult population of advanced economies would be vaccinated by mid-next year. In contrast, this chronology extends to early 2023 for many middle-income countries and even to 2024 for some low-income countries.

It highlights the strong division between high-income countries and low-income countries when it comes to accessing vaccines.

“These so-called passports claim that they would ensure that those who can prove they have coronavirus immunity can begin to return to normal life. What raises the question: what about the rest?” Liberty, the UK’s largest civil liberties organization, said in a press release earlier this month.

“There have been countless suggestions for immunity passports. Some suggest their use would be limited to international travel; others are less specific. Meanwhile, various technologies have been published, from QR codes to applications or even physical cards, “the statement continued.

“One thing all suggestions have been lost is that it is impossible to have immunity passports that do not result in human rights abuses.”

Big Brother Watch, a UK-based rights and democracy group, has also warned against the use of vaccine passports, citing implications for privacy and free movement, among other issues.

In a report published on 14 February by the Science in Emergencies Tasking: Covid-19 (SET-C) group of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, university professors set out 12 questions that should be met to issue a vaccine passport.

These include: adapting to differences between vaccines in their effectiveness and changes in efficacy compared to emerging Covid variants, standardizing internationally, being safe from personal data, complying with legal rules, and meeting standards. ethical.

“Understanding what a vaccine passport can be used for is a fundamental question: is it literally a passport to allow international travel or could it be used nationally to allow holders more freedom?” Professor Melinda Mills, director of the Leverhulme Center for Demographic Sciences at Oxford University, said in the report.

“We need a broader discussion of multiple aspects of a vaccine passport, from the science of immunity to data privacy, technical challenges and the ethics and legality of how it could be used,” Mills said. .