Durham, NC – As more people around the world get vaccinated against coronavirus, the concept of a “vaccine passport” to prove someone’s immune status when traveling or attending a big event gains strength in some places and causes controversy in others. .
Airlines and the UK government are testing digital documents, while Republican governors in several US states have banned them, considering them a threat to personal freedom and privacy.
Nita Farahany, a professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and founding director of Duke Science & Society, said Wednesday that the benefits of a vaccine passport are far outweighed by the risks.
“It’s not that we can’t require vaccines in certain contexts. We can and we do,” Farahany said. “The question is whether or not these passports are suitable for use by society in many different contexts, and I think the answer right now should be no.”
Unlike the vaccines most children should receive before enrolling in school, he said, coronavirus vaccines are not widely available nor have any of them been formally approved by the Food Administration. and U.S. Medicines: All are urgently administered authorizations.
Making vaccination a condition of being able to go to a restaurant or a workplace or board a plane “calls on people to participate in the investigation,” he said, noting that Moderna continues to collect information about their health. seven months after participating in one of its services. clinical trials of vaccines.
Vaccine passports also give people a false sense of security, as health experts do not know how easily people who have been immunized can spread the virus to other people, including children.
Another issue is equity, Farahany said. He said many people in the poorest areas have less access to vaccines than others, which would put them at an economic disadvantage if a vaccine passport is required for certain activities.
“If we condition participation in society based on access to a vaccine,” he said, “I see a widening gap. Jobs lost during the pandemic will now be targeted at people who had access to a vaccine. the vaccine “.
Farahany also has to address privacy issues.
The concept of vaccine passport began when the simple vaccination card was given to people after the first shot so that they could accurately schedule their second dose, depending on the vaccine given to them. But because they were easily counterfeited, especially after people posted photos of their cards, with all the identifying information, on social media, different tech companies said they could provide a digital document.
Transmitting the vaccination status of people to private companies that are not required by health privacy rules could open the door to cede more biometric information to these companies later, Farahady said.
“It’s not just whether or not we have information stored and shared with other people. It’s the context in which we share [and] who has access to it, “he said.” In cases of emergency and times of crisis, these are the times when we have given up more rights, and then we will not be able to break them again. “