Vaccine passport..
VACCINE PASSPORT
People are safe to move around as long as they wear masks around people, go to the office, work out at the gym, attend movies and concerts, fly on airplanes once they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
HOW CAN PEOPLE PROVE PROTECTION?
People can prove protection by showing a vaccine passport which might perhaps, be in the form of a smartphone app. The UK, Israel, European Union and other governments are creating such documents and the US is assessing whether they should have them.
Vaccine passports have met resistance from the World Health Organisation because they worry that they might not work well, exacerbate inequality or undermine privacy. These concerns shouldn't be used as a veto tool but they need to be addressed.
EXACERBATE INEQUALITY? HOW?
Vaccination is not available certainly on an equitable basis and not yet available enough around the world. According to the head of health emergencies at WHO, vaccine passports might allow this inequity to be further branded into the system.
Vaccine rollout needs to be managed with equity and care must be taken to ensure that vaccine passports don't make the task any harder. People do not need a smartphone to show proof of vaccination but what matters most is to deliver vaccines as quickly and effectively as possible within countries and globally.
UNDERMINE PRIVACY? HOW?
Not everyone loves revealing their medical details to strangers. A vaccine passport can show that you are free of covid-19 or protected against it just like a credit card can be used to buy stuffs without revealing your bank account or credit history.
A digital version passport called CommonPass, which is under development by the World Economic Forum and Non-profit Commons Project will access user's vaccination lab results and records to protect against forgery and use them to validate infection status without revealing details.
WOULD THE VACCINE PASSPORT WORK AS INTENDED?
The vaccine passport should be able to provide a simple YES or NO answer to questions that asks if a person meet facility Covid-related entry requirements. The vaccine passport although, can't guarantee that someone is virus-free or safe from infection.
Vaccines and tests provide less than total protection. A person infected with coronavirus may test negative early on and someone who has been vaccinated retains a small risk of being infected. Research haven't known yet whether vaccinated people can transmit the virus or how long vaccine protection can last.
Vaccine passports regardless, can signify that the bearer is guarded against severe disease and death and are less likely to carry the virus and infect other people. Vaccine passports are also meant to be temporary and as more population of the world gets vaccinated and covid-19 fades away, the world will be able to operate without them.