Published: February 26, 2021
Cited by: Urdu Point
MOSCOW, February 26 (Sputnik), Jonathan Rowson – Governments across the globe are weighing up whether so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports can help bring an end to lockdown measures, travel restrictions, and business closures, although experts told Sputnik their proposed creation raises a number of ethical and discrimination concerns, centered on race and privacy.
Iceland became the first European country to begin issuing digital vaccine certificates this past January, allowing residents who have received two vaccine doses to be exempt from entering mandatory quarantine upon their arrival from abroad.
The Greek government began issuing digital vaccine certificates earlier this week, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after a virtual EU summit on Thursday that the bloc’s member states agreed on the need to create an online certification system before the upcoming summer.
COVID-19 vaccine passports were initially proposed for the purpose of facilitating international travel, but a growing number of countries are considering if they can be used for domestic purposes. Earlier this week, the Israeli government launched so-called green passports, which give vaccinated individuals access to gyms, hotels, cinemas, and synagogues.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, while unveiling his roadmap for lifting England’s current nationwide lockdown measures on Monday, told a press briefing that the government would review the domestic use of vaccine passports.
Speakers
Sharona Hoffman, the Edgar A. Hahn professor of law at Case Western Reserve University.
“At least in the United States, where we don’t have universal health care, there are issues of health care barriers, so in some rural areas or poorer areas, people might not actually be able to access vaccines, and if they can’t get certain services because they don’t have a vaccine certificate, that would be highly problematic,” Hoffman said.
Tim Mackey, principal security strategist at the Synopsys Cybersecurity Research Center.
“Significant coordination between international entities is required to ensure that the data recorded by the app is correct and complete … mis-steps along this path could easily tarnish the reputation of digital health passports and form a setback to the return to a pre-COVID-19 travel experience,” Mackey said.
Francis Hoar, a barrister at the London-based Field Court Chambers.
“They are undoubtedly discriminatory, both in the wider sense that they discriminate against anyone who has chosen not to take a particular form of medication and in the sense that they would discriminate indirectly against groups with protected characteristics,” Hoar said.
Jonathan Rowson 