What are the chances vaccine passports will take hold in the US?

The politics of public health will never sit easy with everyone, writes Andrew Buncombe

Wednesday 07 April 2021 13:33 BST

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Vaccine passports might yet help revive New York life (AFP via Getty)

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Florida governor Ron DeSantis could not have been more clear.

There was no way businesses should ask Floridians to show proof they had obtained the Covid vaccine. He even signed an executive order banning them from doing so, and to protect – in his words – “individual freedom”.

Greg Abbott of Texas, another Republican governor of a state that got hit hard by the coronavirus, and where businesses have been opened for weeks, was similarly forthright.

“These vaccines are always voluntary and never forced,” he said.

DeSantis and Abbott are powerful men, kings of their castles. Both have been mentioned as possible presidential candidates in 2024.

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And yet, whether they like it or not, vaccine passports are almost certainly on their way, both here in the US and in many other parts of the world.

Consider this: As Abbott was trying to insist that neither Texans or visitors to Texas would need to show proof of having had a jab, Brown University, located in Rhode Island, became the most recent of at least seven US colleges to insist students be vaccinated if they wish to start the autumn term.

“This morning, @BrownUniversity President Christina Paxson announced plans for close to traditional fall semester on campus (with some adjustments)... And a requirement that all students on campus be vaccinated,” he tweeted. “This is the right call. Vaccines get us our lives back.”

And it is not just universities and colleges. Experts say that as more and more vaccinations go ahead – on Tuesday the White House announced it had already put 150m vaccine shots “in arms” – showing proof of such inoculation will become more commonplace for airlines, for businesses, and other areas of public life.

The Vaccination Credential Initiative is a phalanx of companies and health care groups working on the best guidelines to develop a digital health pass, not only for airlines but for sports arenas and music venues.

Paul Meyer, CEO of participating company Commons Project, told ABC News that plans are drawing interest from all quarters. “In the last week the Miami Heat announced that they were ramping up sections to fans who can prove that they’ve been vaccinated,” he said. “We’re seeing employers, concert venues, festivals, and we were approached by Burning Man.”

At least four cruise liners, American Queen Steamboat Co, and Crystal Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Virgin Voyages, have said they will not accept any unvaccinated passengers.

For now, Joe Biden and his team are insisting there is no plan for such a “passport” in the US, even as he continues to increase the speed at which people are being vaccinated, and insisting every American should be eligible to obtain a shot by April 19.

“I doubt that the federal government will be the main mover of a vaccine passport concept,” Biden’s chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci told Politico. “They may be involved in making sure things are done fairly and equitably, but I doubt if the federal government is going to be the leading element of that.”

And on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki again denied the government was planning such a move.

“Let me be very clear on this. I know there’s been lots of questions,” she said. “The government is not now, nor will we be, supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential.”

But what if Americans want to travel abroad? The European Union, China, and Japan are all trying to find a way to make it easier for people who have been vaccinated to travel. At the same time, a number of countries will soon be opening up their borders to those who have had a jab.

Ed Bastian, chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines, is among those that who have said proof of vaccination will likely eventually be required on international flights,

Such a passport could be something similar to what IBM is currently working on in New York, which has become the first state to offer such certification. The result is the “Excelsior Pass”, will be useful first at large-scale venues like Madison Square Garden. It is expected that the pass will become accepted at dozens of music, arts and entertainment venues across the state.

Abbott and DeSantis may have reasons to take the positions they do, as indeed might Joe Biden. But in our linked-up, globalised world, where not so very long ago we thought nothing of hopping on an 15-hour flight to India or China – or from there, to the US, where the private sector and its customers’ expectations and demands will matter far more than any political edict.

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