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 considering introducing digital permits.

The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union are among those considering introducing a digital passport that will allow citizens to show that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

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

It is believed that a digital passport could stimulate an economic recovery as countries prepare to relax public health measures in the coming weeks. The struggling airline, particularly affected by the spread of the virus last year, is among those calling on governments to introduce legislation supporting Covid vaccine passports.

However, doctors and rights 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 misused to provide “false insurance” to tourists.

“I see that it could be useful in the long run, but I have more concerns that they are being taken into account at this time when I think the scientific evidence does not support them. And there are a lot of ethical concerns about them. I think they are legitimate, “Gurdasani said on Thursday.

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

In addition, most countries do not have enough access to vaccines to immunize their populations, and Gurdasani warned that a system of certificates similar to vaccine passports would discriminate those populations “even more”.

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

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also ordered a review of vaccine passports, while the European Council is due to meet on Thursday to discuss the next steps in launching and moving the EU vaccine to the 27-nation bloc.

The International Air Travel Association, which represents approximately 290 airlines worldwide, has seen an increasing number of airlines sign up for the so-called IATA Travel Pass. The initiative is designed to help passengers manage their travel plans and provide airlines and governments with proof that they have been vaccinated or tested for Covid-19.

In a letter seen by EURACTIV, IATA reportedly called on EU leaders meeting 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 contacted by CNBC on Thursday.

The World Health Organization is not currently interested in vaccine passports. In a statement released on January 28, WHO officials said governments should not currently introduce requirements for proof of vaccination or immunity for international travel.

The United Nations Health Agency added: “There are still unknown criticisms of the effectiveness of vaccination in reducing transmission and limited availability of vaccines.”

A report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit last month predicted that most of the adult population in advanced economies will be vaccinated by the middle of next year. Instead, this timeline extends to early 2023 for many middle-income countries and even to 2024 for some low-income countries.

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

“These so-called passports claim that they would assure those who can prove that they are immune to coronavirus that they can begin to return to normal life. Which raises the question – what happens to others?” Liberty, the largest civil liberties organization in Britain, said in a press release earlier this month.

“There have been countless suggestions for immunity passports. Some suggest that their use would be limited to international travel – others are less specific. In the meantime, there have been a variety of technologies, from QR codes to applications or even physical cards.” the statement continued.

“One thing that any suggestion has missed is that it is impossible to have immune passports that do not lead to human rights abuses.”

Big Brother Watch, a UK rights and democracy group, 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 at the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, university professors highlighted 12 issues that should be met to deliver a vaccine passport.

These included: adapting to differences in vaccines in terms of their effectiveness and changes in efficacy compared to emerging Covid variants, being standardized internationally, being secure for personal data, complying with legal standards and respecting ethical standards. .

“Understanding what a vaccine passport could be used for is a fundamental question – is it literally a passport to allow international travel or could it be used domestically to allow holders greater 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 many aspects of the vaccine passport, from the science of immunity to the confidentiality of data, technical challenges and the ethics and legality of how it could be used,” Mills said.