A response to: "Vaccines, health passports, and fear"

I read this opinion piece in today's Travel Weekly raising questions about vaccine passports. As a public health professional, let me address some of its points.

There are several reasons why it is smart to move cautiously to create vaccine passports.

First, vaccines are like birth control - they only work most of the time which is why vaccinated people still need to wear masks. Vaccine passports may give people the false sense of security that it is okay to throw away their masks. Data is starting to be reported that vaccinated people can continue to spread COVID-19 and may, in some small numbers, still get infected with COVID-19. It is much too early in our understanding of this evolving disease to instill absolute confidence in vaccines.

Second, healthcare information is to be protected not necessarily from government but from hackers, fraudsters, unscrupulous employers, etc. Protecting the information should not be taken lightly. Governments, private sector, and individuals can do more to protect their own personal information. "Vaccine shaming" is taking place around the world - an approach that seems to backfire and further discourage vaccination. Vaccine passports may encourage that behavior.

Third, there is already a black market of fraudulent CDC Vaccination Records where individuals buy and sell "proof" of vaccination. There is no guarantee that the person who claims to be vaccinated actually is vaccinated without a strong global system of independent verification. So far that system does not seem to exist. It doesn't have to be perfect - just very, very good.

Fourth, and most alarming in my opinion, is that COVID-19 variants are getting smarter, stronger, & more dangerous. Unless there is a global effort to vaccinate everyone, variants will continue to evolve, putting everyone at risk even those who have been vaccinated. This issue touches in inequities in access to vaccines not only in wealthy countries but every country around the world. COVID-19 does not need a passport to cross boundaries and travel everywhere that humans go.

Fifth, vaccine passports should be universal with an established verification system consistently collecting the same information for track & trace purposes as well as reliable assurance that the person claiming to be vaccinated actually is vaccinated. Vaccine passport schemes are popping up all over - some are quite good, others are worthless. As a traveler, how would I know which type of vaccine passport the person sitting next to me has?

Yes, we all want to be able to travel and are impatient to do so. COVID-19 and its variants do not care one whit how impatient we are. Managing a pandemic of a previously unknown disease requires patience as scientists learn more about the dangers of its variants, vaccine effectiveness, and other information that can be the basis for intelligent, balanced public health policies. Politicians are driven by getting re-elected and pacifying voters who may not fully understand the implications of what they are demanding politicians to do.

Without clear, consistent, and transparent policy-making on a global level, we are dooming ourselves to endless waves of COVID-19 and its variants for keeping us prisoners for a long time to come. Advocating for or against vaccine passports is a far more nuanced discussion that is currently taking place.

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