A national registry of the vaccinated is a bad idea.
In January, President Joe Biden directed federal agencies to assess the feasibility of creating COVID-19 vaccination credentials — certifications of health data that could inform Americans’ interactions with everything from airlines to restaurants.
Several other nations are pursuing similar programs. In Israel, the government is issuing “green passports” which grant their holders access to gyms, hotels and (coming soon) quarantine-free travel. Saudi Arabia issues an app-based passport for the same purpose; Iceland uses them for travel purposes, and Britain is studying a similar program, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If Biden wants an example of “Neanderthal thinking,” to quote his Oval Office presser, this is it. Who, after all, is protected by a “green zone”? The vaccinated people who are already inoculated? The unvaccinated who are left out? Scientists aren’t even sure whether COVID-19 vaccines stop people from spreading the disease, so the public health benefits of creating a vaccination in-crowd are precisely zero.
Such a program would almost certainly discriminate against undervaccinated communities: younger people who aren’t yet approved for the shot, and minority communities where uptake rates are lower.
Vaccination passports would also make private health information public. If there’s one thing Americans are protective of in the internet age, it’s personal information. And if there’s one place Americans don’t want that information, it’s in a government registry.
The most dangerous factor in a system like this would be the skepticism it would undoubtedly breed toward the very thing it seeks to promote: more vaccinations. Especially in Texas, a government registry would add fuel to the already galloping fires of government distrust. People are wary. Telling them that the cost of a vaccine is entry into a federal registry will be enough to drive many away from the needle and take us that much farther away from herd immunity.
Proponents of these plans say they incentivize the vaccine. According to The Journal’s reporting on the Israeli program, “Officials are warning those who shun the national vaccination campaign that they will be shut out of everyday activities.”
Israeli health minister Yuli Edelstein is leaning hard on that message. “Anyone who does not get vaccinated will be left behind,” he said.
We’re all in favor of better awareness campaigns, but socially shaming the unvaccinated is not the way to do it.
There are circumstances when it’s appropriate for an employer, a school, or even a restaurant to enforce public health standards. We all had to get our shots before starting grade school. But in those cases there was a public health benefit (namely, preventing spread) and the shot records belonged to Mom (or whoever registered us for school), not to the feds.
Passports and green zones would serve no scientific purpose and could very well thwart their own ends. The Biden administration should stay far away from this plan.