Thread by @clarewenham

I think #vaccinepassports or #vaccinecertificates are a bad idea, and governments really need to think carefully before proceeding. They are a Pandora's Box.

Ultimately health status should not be the determinant of one's rights. A🧵

Firstly, in a pandemic intensifying all societal inequalities, we shouldnt be introducing mechanisms to further compound these. Those who are unable to get vaccinated (for health reasons, pregnant women) will be immediately discriminated against.

In the short term, this will also include younger people, leading to intergenerational tension, and indeed children who currently are not being vaccinated, and this in turn may discriminate against parents (mothers) if unable to interact in public when looking after them

Globally, this also discriminates against those from LMICs who do not have access to vaccines (and may not across whole population for many years). Requiring vaccine passports at borders /airlines means those nationals will be prohibited from intl travel (and trade, leisure etc)

Let's also not forget vaccine hesitancy a real thing - particularly amongst historically marginalised groups. Whilst some suggest vaccine passports incentivise vaccination, it also may further stigmatise / exclude those who dont wish to be vaccinated (nb. I am pro vaccine)

How does this play out if employment, for example, is contingent on vaccination? Can people lose their jobs because of decision making about their health?

Many are comparing to Yellow Fever or Polio certificates required, but these are not limited by finite supply and global distribution dynamics + economics. countries actively provide vaccines to travellers, but this isnt the same model (and not used for domestic life)

Those who are pushing vaccine certificates have different incentives - eg. countries reliant on tourism industries, companies wanting to build consumer confidence, but these should not be the driver of a UK government policy

If anything, the UK government should be seeking to regulate / limit / prohibit the use of any mechanism introduced by private companies thinking of introducing their own

And what happens if variants reduce effectiveness of different vaccines? Will vaccine passports stipulate which vaccine you have had i.e. you can only go into a shop/bar/country if you've had Pfizer vaccine, but not if you've had AZ?

This above is also something out of individual control, determined by which vaccines individual countries have purchased, supply of that vaccine and distribution nationally.

I have discussed this previously

https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1357829538621833217?s=20

and here

https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1362135566947667971?s=20

Instead we should be thinking of alternative policy interventions. How do we get numbers globally as low as possible, how do we ensure vaccine uptake, how do we use rapid testing (and effective rapid testing) in locations which would otherwise want passports.