Since the beginning of the pandemic, as much as the importance of a vaccine has been emphasized, it has also been said that a vaccine will not mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our lives overnight. Following the approval of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, international travel has again been at the center of discussions.
"Immunity passport" is a concept that has been circulating since the beginning of the pandemic to allow people who were supposed to be immune to Covid-19 to circulate freely. With the approval of a vaccine, the idea has changed and immunity is determined through vaccination.
Sidoqoftë, deklaratat zyrtare për vlefshmërinë e të ashtuquajturave "pasaporta dixhitale të shëndetit" - ose "pasaportat e vaksinave" siç po njihen - aktualisht janë paksa konfuze. Vetë Organizata Botërore e Shëndetësisë (OBSH) duket në kundërshtim me rekomandimet e veta.
Në një konferencë shtypi të OBSH-së në Copenhagen më 4 dhjetor, Dr. Catherine Smallwood, Zyrtare e Lartë e Emergjencave në OBSH në Europë, tha:
"Ne nuk rekomandojmë pasaporta të imunitetit dhe as nuk rekomandojmë testimin si një mjet për të parandaluar transmetimin përtej kufijve," tha ajo. "Ajo që ne rekomandojmë është që vendet të shikojnë të dhënat mbi transmetimin si brenda vendeve të tyre ashtu edhe përtej kufijve të tyre dhe të rregullojnë udhëzimet e tyre të udhëtimit për njerëzit në përputhje me rrethanat".
But on the other hand, it signed an agreement with Estonia in October to co-operate on the development of a digital vaccination certificate - or a "yellow card" on vaccination paper certificates.
However, vaccine passports are already becoming an important issue. In late November, Qantas (Australia), for example, became one of the first airlines to publicly announce that it would only allow vaccinated passengers on future flights.
While digital health passports aim to solve many of the problems associated with freedom of movement caused by the pandemic, there are those who are raising legitimate concerns about the potential for abuse of personal freedoms and privacy. The University of Exeter in the UK published a report on 3 December on the impact that digital health passports will have on human rights as required by law.
"Digital health passports can contribute to the long-term management of the Covid-19 pandemic," Ana Beduschi, an associate law professor and one of the report's authors, told Euronews. "However, they pose fundamental questions for the protection of data privacy and human rights."
To give you an example, imagine that public authorities would require everyone to regularly display their health status - for example, Covid-19 test results or vaccination records - to enter public spaces and private, such as restaurants, churches or public transport.Based on their health status, some people can move freely - this would be the case for those who would have tested negative for Covid-19 or been vaccinated, she said.
"Otherwise, others will not be allowed to travel and enter certain places, including churches, sports venues and other gathering areas. Undoubtedly, such measures may preserve the freedoms of those who do not have the disease or have been vaccinated, "she argued. "However, if some people cannot have or withstand tests or the Covid-19 vaccine, they will not be able to prove their health status and thus their freedoms will be de facto restricted."
"There is a lot of misunderstanding about what we are doing," Thomas Crampton, chief marketing and communications officer at CommonPass, a secure application for sharing personal health data, told Euronews.
CommonPass is in the process of being used by five major airlines after being successfully tested on Cathay Pacific flights between Singapore and Hong Kong and by United Airlines between London and New York.
"What CommonPass does is allow you to transmit personal health information, especially Covid tests and vaccination status, from certified laboratories and vaccination sites in a way that preserves privacy," Crampton added.
Sources: Euronews, Guardian
