COVID-19 Immunity Passports / Certificates?

[lpetrich]

Fauci: Coronavirus immunity cards for Americans are 'being discussed' - POLITICO - "The proposal, already being implemented by German researchers, is under consideration in the United Kingdom and Italy."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, revealed Friday the federal government is considering issuing Americans certificates of immunity from the coronavirus, as the Trump administration works to better identify those who have been infected and restart the U.S. economy in the coming weeks.

I've found other articles on that:

Why it’s too early to start giving out “immunity passports” | MIT Technology Review - "Coronavirus antibody testing needs to get a lot better, and so does our understanding of immunity, before people can start circulating freely."

Immunity passports aren’t a good way out of the coronavirus crisis | WIRED UK - "The UK government is considering issuing immunity passports to people who can prove they are immune to Covid-19, but the idea is fraught with problems"

Is an 'immunity certificate' the way to get out of coronavirus lockdown? - CNN

Most experts agree that the only way out of a lockdown is testing. Reliable tests would allow people to know whether they have had the virus, and therefore enjoy at least a degree of immunity. They would give officials the ability to isolate new outbreaks when they emerge.
But just how would people prove their status -- and just what rights would that status confer? These are big questions that countries around the world are grappling with.

Will a Coronavirus Antibody Test Allow Us to Go Back to School or Work? - The New York Times - "Tests that reveal whether someone has been infected with the coronavirus are on their way. But they’re not perfect. Here’s what you need to know."

There’s a Big Problem With Coronavirus Immunity Certificates - Bloomberg - "Large-scale antibody testing is a way out of mass lockdowns, but it could create perverse incentives for people to try to contract the virus."

For one, they worry it could create a two-tiered workforce and perverse incentives for people to try to contract the virus, particularly millennials who might feel their chances of surviving it are high. “Like the ‘chickenpox parties’ of old, some workers will want to get infected,” says I. Glenn Cohen, a bioethics expert at Harvard Law School, referring to when parents deliberately exposed children to others with chickenpox at a young age, when symptoms tend to be milder. “That sounds crazy, but if having the antibodies becomes the cost of entering the job market and thus feeding your family, there may be workers who feel pressured into it.”

 

[Harry Bosch]

Fauci: Coronavirus immunity cards for Americans are 'being discussed' - POLITICO - "The proposal, already being implemented by German researchers, is under consideration in the United Kingdom and Italy."


I've found other articles on that:

Why it’s too early to start giving out “immunity passports” | MIT Technology Review - "Coronavirus antibody testing needs to get a lot better, and so does our understanding of immunity, before people can start circulating freely."

Immunity passports aren’t a good way out of the coronavirus crisis | WIRED UK - "The UK government is considering issuing immunity passports to people who can prove they are immune to Covid-19, but the idea is fraught with problems"

Is an 'immunity certificate' the way to get out of coronavirus lockdown? - CNN


Will a Coronavirus Antibody Test Allow Us to Go Back to School or Work? - The New York Times - "Tests that reveal whether someone has been infected with the coronavirus are on their way. But they’re not perfect. Here’s what you need to know."

There’s a Big Problem With Coronavirus Immunity Certificates - Bloomberg - "Large-scale antibody testing is a way out of mass lockdowns, but it could create perverse incentives for people to try to contract the virus."

For one, they worry it could create a two-tiered workforce and perverse incentives for people to try to contract the virus, particularly millennials who might feel their chances of surviving it are high. “Like the ‘chickenpox parties’ of old, some workers will want to get infected,” says I. Glenn Cohen, a bioethics expert at Harvard Law School, referring to when parents deliberately exposed children to others with chickenpox at a young age, when symptoms tend to be milder. “That sounds crazy, but if having the antibodies becomes the cost of entering the job market and thus feeding your family, there may be workers who feel pressured into it.”

I'd be in favor of extending these "passports" to people who are responsible enough to get all their immunization shots, including a future covid-15 shot. I think that society is going to get less and less tolerant of anti-vaxxer people in the future.

 

[bilby]

The whole concept is an exercise in futility unless and until it is established that immunity actually arises in those who have antibodies to the disease, having survived an infection.

It's widely assumed that this is the case; But there's certainly plenty of room for doubt - there's increasing evidence of people contracting the disease for a second time. If such people are able to spread the disease, then the whole idea of immunity passports or certificates is exploded, before we even consider other possible problems that such certifications could cause.

 

[Harry Bosch]

The whole concept is an exercise in futility unless and until it is established that immunity actually arises in those who have antibodies to the disease, having survived an infection.

It's widely assumed that this is the case; But there's certainly plenty of room for doubt - there's increasing evidence of people contracting the disease for a second time. If such people are able to spread the disease, then the whole idea of immunity passports or certificates is exploded, before we even consider other possible problems that such certifications could cause.

Of course. Covid is really just a flu/cold bug on steroids. It evolves. We'll most likely need yearly vaccines that have to be adapted every year. And, just like the flu, sometimes the vaccine will work great, others years it will not. We'll never be 100% safe against covid-19, but taking care of yourself and getting future vaccines will reduces the chances that you'll get it, and reduce the chance that you can spread it.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Why reinvent the wheel?

 

[bilby]

Nobody's suggesting that such certifications haven't been used for other communicable diseases in the past.

But it's questionable whether either vaccination or infection acquired immunity will be sufficient to make an individual safe from being a carrier - and if it does not, then certification is useless.

And, of course, a vaccine doesn't even exist yet.

 

[Angry Floof]

The whole concept is an exercise in futility unless and until it is established that immunity actually arises in those who have antibodies to the disease, having survived an infection.

It's widely assumed that this is the case; But there's certainly plenty of room for doubt - there's increasing evidence of people contracting the disease for a second time. If such people are able to spread the disease, then the whole idea of immunity passports or certificates is exploded, before we even consider other possible problems that such certifications could cause.

This.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Last year I had a pneumonia vaccination. Good for 5 years of protection. I have not seen if such a vaccination helps those who do get a case of covid-19 and its complications. But if so, at least I am covered with that. Just thought I would throw that out for consideration.