Vaccine passports

Five words that I never thought you would hear me say:    

I AGREE WITH RUSSELL BRAND

(I know, crazy right?)

https://youtu.be/UGgvgKE0n8o

Why should an individual have to declare personal health information in order to gain access to a pub or shop, or to travel on a ship or plane? It’s not justified on personal safety grounds: if you have been vaccinated then you are protected. The status of those around you is essentially irrelevant.  Shouldn’t it be up to an individual to decide what they do with their own body? Without undue pressure or coercion of any kind?

Both the Council of Europe and the World Health Organisation have stated that #vaccinepassports are discriminatory and divisive. They will create a two-tier society, which particularly impacts those who already have a degree of hesitancy about the role of the State or who are not a part of mainstream society.  

So is the motivation: (a) political/social – to be seen to do “something”; (b) another behavioural “nudge” by Government psychologists to encourage high vaccine uptake; or (c) using the pandemic to create bio-identity cards – something that the Prime Minister has previously strongly opposed, but which others in the Government are very much in favour of?

It has been said that it’s up to private businesses to decide who they allow on their premises or who they provide services to. But that’s not true. We don’t allow businesses to refuse to provide service to someone on the grounds of their race or religion. We also don’t allow them to discriminate on the grounds of aspects of health status. The definition of disability covers a wide variety of physical and mental health issues. That includes viruses: HIV being the prime example; added in no small part to address the stigma that previously attached to HIV.

A business cannot refuse entry on the grounds that a person has HIV. So why should it be okay to ask someone to provide proof of vaccination or recent negative Covid tests as a condition of service? What’s next, requiring proof of a recent clean STD test as a condition of entry to a bar or nightclub?

Do we want to live in a free society, or are most people happy to relinquish their freedoms and personal information in exchange for an illusion of increased safety? And what happens when it becomes your turn to be the one on the outside looking in?