I have very mixed views about vaccine passports. The government is resisting the idea. Ministers worry about the complexity and potential discrimination, though rather less about the intrusion into civil liberties. But many people I know support the idea if it is the price of getting access to their favourite hostelry, restaurant or entertainment venue. There is even talk of using vaccine passports for shops.
With “non-essential” shops and pubs opening across the country and in Ludlow today, I am asking the question – do you support vaccination passports?
I don’t like the idea of having to show my ID before going into a pub, even a store. Publicans I have spoken to are not keen. On the other hand, best practice in pubs and restaurants is to halt customers at the door and ensure they log in to the NHS Track and Trace app and use hand sanitiser. Checking whether people have had a vaccination is not much of an extra step and they already check IDs for under 25s. But it is intrusive and almost feels confrontational. Depending on vaccine supplies, it will be mid-summer before all adults have been vaccinated.
But if vaccine passports promote safety, is it worth enduring that? But if venues are safe, and that is my experience in Ludlow, why have vaccine passports?
What happens to people who can’t be vaccinated for health reasons? A passport saying that they are exempt is giving away information that ought to be confidential.
There is an additional aspect to this. If someone is not vaccinated but has a negative PCR or lateral flow test, should they allowed into a venue? Or should they be barred as they could still be hosting Covid-19, especially with a lateral flow test?
It is likely that some form of vaccine accreditation or a negative test will be required for international travel.
Please vote and comment.
After the first few votes, I updated this poll to add the option of passports for international travel to take account of comments made.
It’s a no brainer to support vaccine passports to enable tourist economy to start recovery despite the inconvenience to lives. While passports are also debatably discriminatory for younger people, the benefit to improve mental health and well being for many outweigh the negatives.
Unfortunately your survey on vaccine passports was a straight black and white so I was forced to vote yes. It’s not a simple yes or no and needs careful analysis. I do support the idea but only in certain circumstances where the customer/service user has a right to being safe. So for care homes, all workplaces etc I think employers need to show that their staff have been vaccinated in order to protect their customers and other staff. I also think flights, possibly theatres and in other closed in environments where large numbers gather then passports should be considered.
I fully agree with Jane Hulley’s comments above. I have voted ‘yes’ too, but for certain circumstances. International travel would be one of those. At pub/restaurant level I think passports could be counter-productive, and on a purely practical level – hard to implement.
Yes I do support vaccination passports – but only as ‘pass ports’ – for travel in and out of this and other countries.
I can’t imagine how they would be issued or enforced if they were for entry to any indoor space. And no, not everyone has a smartphone!
What’s the problem with a vaccine passport? I remember having to show a.vaccine passport (yellow fever,etc). It was accepted as a way of stopping global pandemics. Nonsensical to go on about one’s human rights whilst asserting your right to infect /kill others.
Put up or shut up!
Having seen clips of people back in pubs at midnight last night, allegedly outdoors, the lack of any sense of distancing, shows that Johnson’s allowing a free for all is just populist incompetence. There will be more infections and the South African variant will get the opportunity to run riot. It is not at all clear that the vaccination rollout will be able to keep a lid on it, but it will increase the spread.
If we want the economy to recover (and we all need it to) vaccine passports would encourage and allow a steadily growing proportion of the population to get out and to start to spend. The alternative is another Johnson big bang and we all know where that leads.