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SYDNEY: Vaccine passports are generating a lot of buzz even though the World Health Organization has repeatedly advised against them.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) hopes that blockchain-based digital applications will get people flying again. Tour groups see them as a possible basis for an earlier opening.
Actually, buzz versions are more complicated than necessary: they do not solve critical problems and introduce new ones. There is a much simpler and more useful solution.
READ: Comment: Concerns about long-term side effects could slow Singapore’s COVID-19 vaccination program
A NOT NEW CONCEPT
A vaccine passport is proof of vaccination that may be required as a condition of entry or service. This is generally considered for international travel, but certain domestic services are also discussed.
The concept is not new. Around 20 countries already require proof of yellow fever vaccination for all arriving travelers. What is new is “digital”, which is where the “problem-seeking solution” comes into play.
A digital “passport” in the form of an application or a certificate carried by a person is an unnecessary, complex, burdensome and unsafe means of proving vaccination status. There is no need for special technology or international lists.
Consider flights: The booking stage can simply include an airline-authorized data call to the passenger’s local health authority for confirmation of vaccination.
Workers wearing protective gear disinfect an arrival gate while other workers check passengers from abroad upon arrival at Incheon International Airport amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Incheon, Korea South, on December 28, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS / Kim Hong-Ji)
This is the simplest, cheapest, most authoritative, scalable, and fraud-resistant method of checking vaccination status.
Similarly, home services can easily adapt existing processes, such as the rather pervasive requirement that guests in enclosed spaces register their name and contact details with health authorities for contact tracing purposes. This process can easily verify vaccination (or exemption) status.
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There are some situations (such as internal border crossings) where additional steps may be necessary, but internal border controls can be managed more simply than with a ready-made notion of a “digital passport.”
BE CAREFUL NOT TO DIVERSION THE FEW VACCINES FROM THE PRIORITY GROUPS
Disregarding inefficient forms of enforcement, should we require some proof of vaccination? Certainly yes, but be careful.
People are seen after receiving a dose of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a vaccination site, during a government-organized visit, in Beijing, China, on January 15, 2021 (Photo: Reuters / Carlos García Rawlins).
The WHO interim position paper, released in February, raises two fundamental concerns: Travelers should not divert scarce vaccinations from priority people, and vaccination should complement, not replace, other measures.
While vaccines remain in short supply, we must prioritize vaccinating people who are most likely to transmit the virus or most vulnerable to it. That means frontline healthcare workers, other essential workers, and the elderly.
Misallocating the scarce vaccine (either within or between countries) could be devastatingly ineffective if it allows preventable mutations to neutralize the efficacy of existing vaccines, spreading the pandemic for months or years.
The COVAX program is our best tool to quickly end the pandemic: COVAX is the fastest way to reopen economies.
(Hear behind-the-scenes considerations and discussions on what could be Singapore’s largest vaccination program on CNA’s Heart of the Matter podcast 🙂
CAUTION NECESSARY WHEN RE-OPENING BORDERS
Opening borders before a country has achieved population immunity will inevitably spread the pandemic and force further economic closures and blockades.
While COVID-19 vaccines are an astonishing achievement, they are not magic: a plane full of vaccinated passengers may still include enough people who could spread the virus that quarantine remains necessary until the destination country has population immunity.
Vaccinating only priority individuals can facilitate more flexible or higher quarantine volumes, but some form of quarantine will remain necessary until population immunity is achieved.
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That is one of the reasons why countries should invest heavily in the fastest vaccination program possible. (Mutation risk is another major reason for haste.)
CAUTION ON RELYING ONLY ON VACCINES
However, the WHO also raises a third concern that is based on the same catastrophic error in judgment that led them to oppose the use of masks and border controls during the first critical months of the pandemic.
They write that there are “critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission.” This is not an argument against relying on vaccination services, it is an argument against relying solely on vaccinations.
Official WHO guidance has regularly misinterpreted the precautionary principle, wrongly attributing the greater risk to action than inaction.
A woman receives an injection of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination for traders and workers at a shopping center in Tangerang, Indonesia, on Monday, March 1, 2021 (Photo: AP Photo / Tatan Syuflana)
This is despite the most powerful moment of leadership in the entire pandemic coming from WHO’s Dr. Mike Ryan, when he passionately proclaimed: “If you need to be right before you move, you will never win … speed trumps perfection. “.
WHEN CAN VACCINES BE A CONDITION FOR ENTERING A COUNTRY?
So when should vaccines become an entry / service condition? That is a question for each country or locality to decide.
As a first consideration, the vaccine must be available to all people who are subject to such a requirement: it must be possible for people to meet the condition before it is imposed.
Reasonable exemptions must be provided: pregnant women or babies should not be subject to restrictions based on a requirement that has not been shown to be safe for them. Top religious leaders have endorsed vaccines, so religious exemptions are not a major concern.
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Some places, like Bali, for example, are also considering special tourist areas. These ideas focus on isolating and then preferably vaccinating the tourist area. In theory this could work, but in practice it is likely to go the way of travel bubbles, which can be unreliable.
Meanwhile, China has announced preferential entry for Hong Kong residents who have used China’s vaccine over those approved by the WHO. Blatant discrimination between vaccines for nationalist political advantage is one of the least useful ideas.
It is now plausible that the pandemic can be ended this year. Supporting industries that rely on international travel can best be done by investing in the fastest vaccine program possible, combined with support for maintenance, ventilation and sanitation improvements, and preparation for the return of global travel.
There is a lot of work to do, as long as someone is willing to pay for it.
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Dominic Meagher is a visiting fellow at the UNA Asia Pacific College, he has been studying policy responses to COVID-19 around the world. This comment first appeared on the Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter blog.
