Coronavirus immunity certificates would be ‘dangerous’, scientist warns

‘If people think they are immune they will start to take risks and any attempt at social distancing will start to break down,’ professor of infectious diseases says

Giving immunity certificates to former coronavirus patients would be “dangerous”, a scientist has warned.

Eleanor Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh, said the documents – suggested by the government – would give people a “sense of false security” about the virus.

“We do not know yet whether somebody who has had this virus is immune,” she added.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said on Thursday the government was considering handing out the certificates to allow people to “get back, as much as possible, to normal life”, although he stressed they would only be rolled out if testing had proved it was safe.

The distribution of the certificates would require antibody tests – showing a once-infected person’s body had fought off the disease – to be available on a mass scale.

However, Professor Riley said it was not yet clear whether people who have recovered from coronavirus were immune from reinfection.

She said: “They have antibodies, they’ve clearly been exposed, yet will those antibodies protect them against reinfection? I’m not sure that we know that.”

Professor Riley added: “To give a certificate saying somebody is immune I think is actually quite dangerous, because firstly we don’t know if it’s true, and secondly it could give people a slight sense of false security, where they start to do things that they wouldn’t otherwise do.

“For the general public, saying you’re immune, they will think: ‘Oh OK, I don’t need to worry anymore’ – and there will be people who will die as a result of that. I think it’s very risky and I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Speaking on the Today programme on Friday, the health secretary said he had now recovered from coronavirus after testing positive and that it was “highly likely” he was immune, but “not certain”.

“Like everybody else who has been through it, I’m social distancing,” he said.

“We have a stream of work under way on immunity,” Mr Hancock said, adding that the UK was looking into using immunity certificates “when the science is clear about the point at which [people] are then immune”.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it could not currently provide further information on the plan to issue certificates as it was “too early in the science of immunity”.

“As the technology develops and becomes clearer we will be able to update,” a spokesperson said.

No antibody test has been approved for use in the UK yet but they are being used elsewhere are expected to be rolled out to NHS staff soon.

Professor Riley said she did not think immunity certificates would be very useful for people who are not health professionals who want to return to work.

“For anybody else I really don’t see the benefit of it,” she said. “A, at an individual level it’s not informative, and B, if people think they are immune they will start to take risks and any attempt at social distancing will start to break down.”

All public gatherings of more than two have been banned and people have been told to stay inside unless it is essential as the UK tries to limit the spread of coronavirus.

A partial lockdown could last for as long as six months as the country battles the outbreak, according to the deputy chief medical officer.

Press Association contributed to this report