TV personality, dr. Drew tweeted his opposition to COVID-19 vaccine passports on Monday, saying: ‘These vaccine passports separate people and deprive them of their freedom to travel internationally. Vaccinations are important, and I encourage everyone to get the Covid vaccine, but how would you feel if international travel needed other vaccinations as well? ”
On Tuesday, he walks it back – but for thousands of people on Twitter, that seemed like a good question.
It’s not.
While vaccine passports have emerged as the latest flashpoint in the COVID-19 pandemic, most people already have some form of documentation confirming that they have been vaccinated against certain diseases. And many public health experts say such evidence would be the key to making life normal again, while preventing future COVID-19 outbreaks.
“People have been suffering for more than a year and they want their lives back,” Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, told BuzzFeed News. ‘They want to go to restaurants, watch movies, visit their loved ones and return to work. Vaccination passports provide a path to a faster and safer return to normal life. ”
As vaccines become more widespread, the prospect of COVID-19 vaccine passports becomes a reality for many people. The European Union is likely to launch them in June. Israel, which is leading the largest countries to vaccines administered so far, has already introduced one. China also has one. The UK is debating its own version. The state of New York has instituted a voluntary ‘Excelsior Pass’ which provides proof of vaccination or a negative test for access to sports events, music venues and businesses. At least eight major airlines are working on a version of a coronavirus passport, just like Walmart.
More than 64 million people, or nearly 1 in 5 Americans, have so far been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
But the federal government – including Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – has so far made it clear that it will make no effort to draw up a national vaccine passport. Instead, it works to correct the more than a dozen versions being developed in the private sector.
Many Republican leaders have backed down from such measures, suggesting it would be a government breach. On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order banning the use of COVID-19 vaccination passports in the state. On Sunday, the Mississippi government, Tate Reeves, told CNN that he also opposed them. On Tuesday, the Texas government, Greg Abbott, joined.
“The passport is a good idea,” Howard Markel, a pediatrician and medical historian, told BuzzFeed News. “How it is politicized is very disturbing and difficult for people in public health to understand.”
The politicization had a significant impact. A recent poll found that only 50% of U.S. residents would support a voluntary document confirming vaccination.
The debate in the US is in many ways a repeat of those about closure and contact tracing. Should people in the US accept restrictions on their personal freedom in the name of public health? Do these temporary measures last long after they are needed? Will people’s privacy be protected? But the idea of vaccine passports is nothing new: the US already has a patchwork quilt from private and public institutions that requires people to show that they have been vaccinated.
‘We already keep records of vaccinations in our medical records. Schools keep records of children. Many hospitals keep it for their staff. It should be known, “said Gostin.
To travel internationally, many people already have to prove that they have been vaccinated. To enter the US, immigrants must provide a record of vaccination against diseases – 14 in all – including hepatitis A and B, two types of flu, polio and chickenpox. Records are kept in a booklet issued by the World Health Organization. The U.S. military, which sends its members around the world, needs about a dozen vaccinations, depending on where a person is deployed.
Proof of vaccination is also required to enroll children in school in all 50 countries. In Florida, where DeSantis is governor, children in kindergarten up to 12th grade must be vaccinated against six diseases. California and Texas each need seven. Because the vaccination requirements for state-level schools are met – there is no federal mandate – many states allow parents not to accept them or grant religious exemption. California is one of the states that has removed such exemptions after a dangerous measles outbreak that began in 2015 at Disneyland hit the state.
As long as vaccines exist, public health officials have asked people to prove they have received them. As historian Jordan E. Taylor wrote in Time magazine beginning in the 19th century, U.S. authorities have instructed people to show that they have been vaccinated against smallpox. Immigration officials need proof of vaccination on Ellis Island in New York and Angel Island in San Francisco. Businesses commissioned it as a condition of service. And during local outbreaks, police would demand that people show that they have been vaccinated.
There are serious concerns about vaccine passports. Some people are worried about their digital rights or the invasion of privacy. But Gostin, who co-authored an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association on possible ethical issues, said vaccine passports contained very little information. ‘In many ways, vaccine passports protect your privacy. “It does not require you to disclose any information unless you have a vaccine or not,” he wrote.
Others cast doubt on the fairness of requiring vaccination in the US, as black and Latinx communities have so far been vaccinated at an excessively low rate. Experts take it seriously, but suggest that concerns will diminish as the vaccines become more available.
“Equity cannot be an afterthought,” Gostin said. ‘We can not have passports if there is a shortage of vaccines. Within a month or two, the vaccines will haunt the people, not the other way around. Everyone will get it right. ”
Public health experts stressed that it is understandable if people feel insecure about vaccine passports and encourage them to talk to their healthcare providers if they have any questions.
“My recommendation is to consult your doctor or the WHO or CDC websites,” Markel said. ‘Talk to your doctor carefully. We do not want to bully people. ”