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Covid-19 immunity passports could be used as a form of date without social distancing
Governments around the world are testing citizens for antibodies to the coronavirus, to determine if people have had the deadly Covid-19 disease.
Some countries are creating so-called “immunity passports” and others may do the same.
The idea is that a passport certifies that you have had coronavirus and that you will not carry or contract the disease again, opening a way to avoid blocking restrictions for the holder.
But is this theory correct? And will it create an elite pool of antibodies that can go out, travel, and work as they please, while others are still limited by health precautions?
‘I know I’m clear, we should meet!’
Pam Evans, from Aberdeen in Scotland, just had a rude awakening to the new reality of internet dating. She says that a man who was interested in meeting her took a novel approach.
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Pam Evans
Pam Evans doesn’t want to break blocking rules by meeting men who think they’re immune to Covid-19
“I had a guy over the weekend: ‘I just got tested last week for Covid, so I know I’m clear, we should get together.’ And I said, ‘Oh no, absolutely not.’ … it became absolutely abusive right away. ”
Pam’s hopeful date was trying to take advantage of her apparent negative coronavirus test result as a reason to break the blocking rules for visiting her.
Is this a sign of how those who obtain a certificate indicating that they have already had coronaviruses could use their privileged position in society?
In New York, people are using antibody tests, showing that they have been exposed to the virus and have recovered, as a way of suggesting that they are safe to date.
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New Yorkers have gone to test centers where blood is drawn to detect antibodies against the coronavirus.
They are photographing positive test results to use as a kind of makeshift “Covid immunity passport.”
If you have antibodies, according to theory, you will not get the disease again.
Going aside, what if we could decide who is safe to return to work or get on a plane? For those people the Covid-19 crash could have ended.
‘Immunity passports’
The idea behind immunity passports is that of a certificate confirming that you have had Covid-19. It could be used to enter places where people without one are prohibited.
To get one, you would have to test positive for antibodies created after exposure to the virus.
A model of a Covid-19 immunity passport: a way to avoid quarantine after flying?
Estonia is building a “immunity passport” system, and Chile is also planning what it calls a “certificate of release”, following these principles.
Tavvet Hinrikus, co-founder of money exchange firm TransferWise, helped develop the Estonian phone application-based system.
“There are areas where I think it’s obvious that we should use this, like … who cares for our elders; can I go see my parents?
“If immunity as a concept exists, then I think people with immunity should be allowed to work with the elderly, or the same for front-line workers,” he says.
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Estonia’s Covid Immunity Passport uses mobile phone technology to identify users
Other applications are being developed to show antibody status, and potentially immunity. An example is Onfido. Its co-founder, Husayn Kasai, says that some American hotel chains now accept immunity passports through an app.
“It is mainly for guests who want to access some of the services, be it the spa or the gym, where social distancing is not an option.”
Elite antibody
But could there be a sinister aspect: the potential for an elite supposedly immune to Covid to develop?
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Chinese shoppers use an app to prove they are healthy before entering a mall – could immunity apps be used in the same way?
Robert West, professor of health, psychology and behavioral sciences at University College London (UCL), fears a “dividing society”.
“You can imagine a situation where if you can get some kind of certification, it will open doors for you that would not be open to people who cannot have that certification.”
“It could create a multi-level society and increase levels of discrimination and inequity.” Professor West also cautions that the entire premise of immunity could be on shaky ground.
“It would not be based on a sound scientific basis. It would be based on a probability that you are or are not susceptible [to coronavirus] You may or may not be able to pass the virus on to others.
“It would be to the detriment of sectors of society, really driven by commercial pressure.”
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Greed immunity passports could mean travelers no longer feel like they need to wear masks
Professor West envisions a point where people with recent antibody certificates could work with vulnerable patients in healthcare, or that companies can use their workers’ immunity passports as a way to compete with other companies.
But he believes there is insufficient evidence to show that having antibodies is a reliable way of knowing how likely you are to contract or transmit the virus.
‘She is fine, she has antibodies’
The air travel sector has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and John Holland-Kaye, executive director of Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, wants all countries to recognize antibody certificates.
“What you really need [is to know that] your health passport … will be accepted in the country you are going to, and you will be allowed to return home safely without being quarantined. “
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Covid-19 virus under the microscope.
Carmel Shachar, from the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School in the USA, fears that people are actually trying to catch Covid-19.
One scenario that worries him is, “If you want to go back to work, you will have to get a deadly disease, one that we really don’t want you to have, from a public health point of view or an individual point of view.”
She also cares about privacy. “If my employer can require medical information about me, have I had Covid? Do I have antibodies? Can they? If they have that information, can they share it?”
Ms. Shachar believes that the commercial benefits of publishing this information for certain industries are obvious. “If I work in a restaurant, can my employer say to every customer that walks through the door, ‘Oh, don’t worry, it’s fine because he has antibodies.'”
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The United States has the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 infections in the world
Shachar believes that known immunity could be of great benefit. “You could say that for healthcare workers working with Covid patients, or nursing facility workers … we want to see immunity.”
She says people really want to get back to the way things were before the pandemic, or a “new normal” that’s close to that, and they are ready to make commitments.
Test questions
Getting to that “new normal” as quickly as possible is the goal of governments around the world. Antibody testing for the entire population is considered a tantalizing idea where infection rates are high.
In Germany, the country’s disease prevention and control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, is conducting large-scale random antibody tests.
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Antibody test blood samples: countries are preparing to offer mass antibody tests
But questions remain about the accuracy of some of these tests. Research published in May by the United States-based Covid-19 Testing Project found that 12 antibody tests were accurate 81 to 100% of the time.
While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cautioned that some antibody tests could incorrectly indicate that you had antibodies, up to half the time. Meaning that those who had never had Covid-19 might mistakenly think they had immunity, and then could act at risk because of this false sense of security.
And even if the test correctly identifies that you have antibodies, does that mean you are actually immune? The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed its doubts.
In the UK, for example, 14 senior academics raised concerns in a letter published in the British Medical Journal in late June, saying that antibody testing for UK healthcare personnel was being implemented without an “assessment adequate. “
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US researchers have found a wide range of precision for antibody tests
Back in Aberdeen, Pam is also unconvinced by the antibody test argument.
“We don’t know how long this immunity could last. We don’t know if it’s 100% correct if you’ve had those symptoms. There is no harm in meeting someone and sitting and having coffee in a park.” she says.
“I’m not someone who will kiss on the first date anyway. So for me, having those two meters apart means a guy can’t attack you for once!”
This article featured interviews broadcast on Business Daily on the BBC World Service.
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