LONDON (Reuters) – Governments and developers around the world are exploring the potential use of “vaccine passports” as a way to reopen the economy, identifying those protected against coronavirus.
Technology developers, however, say that such tools come with consequences, such as the potential exclusion of whole groups from social participation, and urges parliamentarians to think seriously about how they are used.
The travel and entertainment industries, which have strived to operate profitably while imposing regulations on social distancing, are particularly interested in a way to quickly check who is protected.
Passport developers include biometrics iProov and cybersecurity firm Mvine, which have built a vaccination permit that is now being tested by the UK’s National Health Service after receiving funding from the British government.
IProov founder and CEO Andrew Bud believes that such vaccine passports only need to have two pieces of information.
“One is, was this person vaccinated? And the other is, what does this person look like? ”
You just have to match a face with a vaccination status, you don’t have to know a person’s identity, he added.
Confirming the vaccination status of employers could help the economy at night, which has about 420,000 employees in the northern English city of Manchester, on its knees, experts say.
“We need to look at how to get back to normal,” said Sacha Lord, an industrial advisor and co-founder of the city’s Parklife Music Festival.
Although there have been experiments in concerts and social distance events in the last year, they have not been financially viable, he said.
“A concert is not a concert or a festival is not a festival unless you are shoulder to shoulder with your friends.
“I don’t think we should force people into vaccination passports. It should be a choice. But at the entrance, if you do not have that passport, we will offer you another option “, he added, suggesting the use of tests with fast results of the coronavirus.
Bud said vaccine certificates have been issued in some countries, and in the United States, some private sector health permits were used to admit clients to sporting events.
“I think vaccine certificates raise huge social and political issues. Our task is to provide the technological basis to make passports and vaccine certificates possible … It is not our place to judge whether or not they are a good idea, ”he said.
According to him, there may be potential issues related to discrimination, privileges and exclusion of the younger generation, which would be the last in the vaccination line, adding that the government is carefully considering.
Reporting by Natalie Thomas; Written by Alexandra Hudson; Montage by Mike Collett-White