Immunity passports are medical confirmation that allows those with immunity to pass through countries with health restrictions.
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Immunity Passports
Immunity Passports are a form of documentation that demonstrates various vaccines or immunities that a traveler has received. Unlike a paper passport, an immunity passport won’t say where you’ve been but rather what you won’t bring into another country. However, like a paper passport book, the contents of your passport may determine where a traveler may enter and where they may not.
Some forms of immunity passports may be digital as opposed to an actual paper document. Carrying a recent negative COVID-19 result may act as one such document now.
Why We Need Them
We should know who and what is coming into the country. If a country allows infected people to enter, regardless of what they are infected with, they should know what is being allowed to enter. When you think about it, we actually have more paperwork and stricter regulations for passengers bringing fruit in from an American-operated airline than we do for people carrying communicable diseases.
We already follow something similar in paper form. Some countries require proof of vaccines though almost all of these are for Yellow Fever. In fact, until 2010, the United States restricted entry for travelers infected with HIV/AIDS. The Immigration and Nationality Rule of 1952 put the following into place:
“The medical reasons barring entrance to the United States included mental health disorders, substance abuse, epilepsy, tuberculosis, leprosy, or “any dangerous contagious disease.””
Immunity passports would re-open the world to “qualified” visitors.
President Trump this week discussed excluding those with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 including legal residents and US citizens. In order to avoid potential exclusion from entry (under the concept discussed), US-arriving passengers may have to be able to prove they are COVID-free to avoid further scrutiny or exclusion.
Why We Don’t Need Them
To first revisit the point from above, we already tried restricting those who were infected with a disease from entering the US. As a country, we rescinded that rule. Partly because it wasn’t safe for the traveler because they would try to conceal the disease potentially causing themselves harm. It was also an invasion of privacy.
“The removal of the immigration and travel ban on HIV-infected persons was a monumental step in eliminating the exceptionalism of HIV and reducing stigma and social barriers for those living with HIV. On an individual level, it allows for safer travel for people living with HIV/AIDS; no longer do they need to consider leaving behind essential medications for fear of disclosure.”
Every piece of information is already transmitted with our without our express consent. The chip in our passports display information when scanned by our own government and others. I was once turned away at a border over a misunderstanding. I was sure to disclose it when asked at another border because I knew the agent at Immigration already knew it took place. Had I not disclosed it, I could have been turned away for concealing the event. It’s not a stretch to assume that other details could be included in our passport chips and the only thing that could be done is to not travel abroad at all.
Countries in Asia have had temperature checks mounted at Arrival Halls for more than a decade. Every time I move through Hong Kong I pass by a temperature check station. We have never been flagged, but if I or my family had a fever, it’s possible we may have been subject to denied entry or further examination. We consent to this by getting off the plane in many countries in Asia but continue to visit all the same. Similar temperature check stations in the US could serve the same purpose without requiring immunity passports.
Is there no privacy left? HIPAA was a law passed to protect the privacy of US citizen’s medical information. The act was put in place to keep the medical history of an individual person private. Unfortunately for those who value the privacy benefits of the law, HHS has suspended or chosen not to enforce violations of HIPAA’s privacy elements for the purpose of COVID-19. Have we, as a global society, suspended all considered elements of privacy due to COVID-19?
Even the WHO finds the tests that define immunity and confirmation of the disease to be so spotty that the organization recommends against the use of immunity passports.
Conclusion
Some countries have made entry available to Americans subject to a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours, such as Croatia, or a positive result for antibodies. Barbados will also welcome Americans with the same conditions. But I am not sure that COVID-19 warrants such privacy invasions. I am also unsure of what doors are opened once global citizens consent to such requirements. Do we return to prejudices about those who have or have had diseases; things that the HIV/AIDS community fought so hard to reverse? Is this different?
What do you think? Should we carry immunity passports? If so, what diseases should it list, and what are the limitations? If not, why not?
One thing is certain: the wackos ranting about/railing against the possibility of vaccination will be staying home …forever, as every country will be requiring a certificate of vaccination. No exceptions, including the USA.
The ‘immunity passport’ canvassed previously involved the use of an antibody test, reflecting a previous infection and consequent disease-free status. But things didn’t pan out in that regard, as it’s still very unclear about how long immunity lasts.
No doubt the immunity resulting from vaccination will come under close scrutiny: will this be a form of protection for a year, as with the annual flu shot? No one knows.
Really, we’re looking at 2022 before there’s a vaccine, widely if not universally available and deployed. There is only going to be a very new COVID reality, never a return to things as they were before March. We won’t like it, but it will be necessary to be vaccinated, and to show proof of it before going anywhere.
And when the vaccine inevitably provides an efficacy level similar to the flu vaccine (read: not very high), and the first vaccinated traveler contracts and spreads CV, that vaccination certificate becomes worthless. I’m increasingly convinced the only path forward is the “Alaska solution” – test before departure, test again 7-14 days after arrival, and minimize interactions until the second negative result.
There is no case for immunity passports, because they can’t work. Antibodies rapidly decline after two or three months for those infected with SARS-CoV-2, despite lasting T cell immunity. And, if you don’t get an antibody test right after infection, the test is unlikely to detect past infection, despite presence of immunity. Immunity passports would also lead to many individuals intentionally infecting themselves with SARS-CoV-2 in order to acquire the privileges conferred by the immunity passport — some of these young people might still get sick and die as a result.
If Americans ever want to travel to Europe or Asia again, the best thing would be for the country to pass universal health care, provide robust paid leave, properly fund public health institutions, and resolve its national epidemic.
America already has universal health care. It’s Medicaid and terrible. If America can’t run Medicaid, how are they going to expand it? It’s like if you can drive a car, how can you drive a truck with a trailer? The problem is lawyers. No other country do they sue doctors and hospitals like in America. That drives up cost and changes behavior.
A likely result will be vaccination required for travel. It doesn’t have to be 100% effective to work as long as most people get it and still wear masks.
Any other US public institutions that have a 75% favorability rating?
https://www.kff.org/medicaid/poll-finding/data-note-5-charts-about-public-opinion-on-medicaid/
Probably one of the few things that works well in our broken healthcare system.
Kim Jung Un is more popular than any US president in history, 99.99% think he is great according to NK election results. Medicaid people have hard time getting care. I heard that in NY, they pay less for an emergency appendectomy surgery than a Michelin tire. Anyone who thinks Medicaid is great is insane.
Actually, recent studies with significantly larger power than the initial ones on which the WHO analysis was based suggest that immunity does last longer than 2-3 months. My girlfriend and I are living proof of that as we both tested positive for COVID in early March. I’ve been subsequently tested for antibodies 3 times, the last as recent as this week. Each time they came back well above the positive threshold for both of us.
I really wish the CDC and WHO would revisit this idea. As it stands now, we are both subject to the same restrictions as everyone else, despite our apparent immunity. In fact both our workplaces are requiring us to quarantine for 2 weeks following travel to a country with lower infection rates than the US!
Could you please elaborate on the passport chip piece? The below article states very little info is stored on the chip. Is the info in this article incorrect?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.afar.com/magazine/the-decrypted-truth-about-the-security-of-your-passport/amp
Very little may be stored now (according to the information released) but in this post I suggest that more could be stored if they choose to do so.
Ah I think I misunderstood your Misunderstanding at the border to mean that it was due to info stored on your passport chip.
The best way, every one flying has to produce a valid negative Covid 19 results from its GP or health authorities before boarding. And again being tested when you arrive at your destination under the health measure regulations of that country and if necessary quarantine!
Travelling should not be a pleasure at this moment. The whole testing and measures should put off everyone from flying inorder to stop the spreading until a vaccine is available. Everyone should stay in their country until the pandemic is over! People who violates the regulations and travel non essentially should be penalised heavily to deter from any future endeavours.
You’re incredibly unlikely to catch COVID-19 on an airplane, at current boarding levels it’s sub 1:7700 and that considers you’re travelling alone but seated near strangers. In fact, Australia has performed a study on contact tracing and has yet to report a single case of a passenger contracting COVID-19 on a plane. https://bitly.com/3auSG9n
Anyone considering testing, think about a few things. The pcr test was never made to detect free infectious diseases. NEVER. If the virus is so dangerous and deadly,you would NOT need a test you would be able to tell you had it. Viruses have no cure(pur bodies create them,but that is a WHOLE other topic you are not ready to cover.) The way they are counting cases: John feels a sore throat. John takes a “covid test.” John’s test is positive. For a week or two John has a mild cold. John is tested once a week for the next 12 weeks, each time testing positive(pcr multiplies numerous times. You can magnify the result innumerably and force a positive result, again another topic you are not ready for. ) On John’s 14th test it is negative. But John was tested and the results were positive 13 times! Each positive test is counted as ONE CASE. John has become 13 positive cases of Covid!! That being said i suggest you look into Event 201, Rockefeller lockstep program, WHO, and see who funds programs such as these(also check into GAVI trump ended funding to WHO and sent it into Bill gates founded and funded company GAVI to develop the mRNA microdot tatto vaccine for Covid. This will literally bind with and change your DNA. ) all that being said. NO there should not be any invasion of our sovereignty. No masks no social distancing no vaccine and damn sure no immunity passports. If you are that scared of people and a cold virus with a 99.9% recovery rate just stay home. None of you feared TB pertussis influenza etc etc., which kill FAR MORE than this highly inflated cold, but you fear this?! Because the television said so, NOT because you have looked deeper into things. Shalom
Truth! Finally Truth in this thread! Well done, Jina