But how can others be sure they’re not at risk from me? I may feel confident that I’m not at risk from others. And there’s no telling how long it will be before I can fly out of Hong Kong without having to endure weeks of quarantine wherever I land. I’ll still be stuck on Zoom calls, still have to be tested before I go to the gym. Since others will have no way of immediately discerning whether I have been vaccinated or not-and because it’s theoretically possible for vaccinated people to still carry the coronavirus-prudence will require that I continue to wear a mask. After a year of avoiding restaurants, theaters, cafes, public transit, and face-to-face encounters with sources, friends and neighbors, I can only imagine how liberating that will feel.Īnd yet it’s unclear how liberated I’ll actually be. If all goes well, I’ll get my second dose early next month and be considered fully vaccinated the following week or so. Yesterday, the government abruptly announced that anyone over the age of 30 could sign up for a shot-setting off a mad registration scramble this morning. The first doses weren’t delivered until late February, and those were restricted to government leaders, front-line workers, the elderly, and selected high-risk groups.īut now, as the city scrambles to avoid a “ fifth wave” of infection from an outbreak linked to a gym popular with expat bankers and lawyers, health officials here seem determined to make up for lost time. Qantas has said it may require vaccinations for those flying, while some Australian employers could legally order their employees to be vaccinated.Hong Kong has been slow to roll out its vaccination program. The owner of Pimlico Plumbers, based in London, intends to require workers to have been vaccinated before they are sent on jobs, while Unilever hopes to “encourage” all of its employees to take up the vaccine. “This dangerous plan would normalise identity checks, increase state control over law-abiding citizens and create a honeypot for cybercriminals.”īut despite the opposition, such schemes are gaining support. “Digital IDs would lead to sensitive records spanning medical, work, travel, and biometric data about each and every one of us being held at the fingertips of authorities and state bureaucrats. “Vaccine passports would create the backbone of an oppressive digital ID system and could easily lead to a health apartheid that’s incompatible with a free and democratic country,” says Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch. Contracts for £34,000 and £42,000 were granted last year to two London-based companies, the Hub and Netcompany, to build a “minimum viable product”.Ĭivil liberties organisations are alarmed about the project. Separately, the DHSC has contracted out its own investigation of a similar proposal for test passports, which would allow individuals to prove they had received a negative test. A coalition of American organisations, including Microsoft, Oracle and the Mayo Clinic, has launched the Vaccination Credential Initiative, aiming to establish wider standards to prevent individuals falsely claiming they have been vaccinated. The UK companies are not the only ones working on a solution. If successful, this should in time lead to a reassessment of current restrictions.” As large numbers of people from at-risk groups are vaccinated, we will be able to gather the evidence to prove the impact on infection rates, hospitalisation and reduced deaths. A spokesperson says: “At this stage of the vaccination programme, it is not clear whether vaccines will prevent transmission. But the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) says it has no plans to introduce a vaccine passport nationwide. Mvine and iProov are moving into the testing phase of their app, which received £75,000 startup funding from the UK government last year. Universities might make the same choice.” Aside from travel, employers may decide that access to offices is only safe if an employee or a visitor has one. This kind of digital vaccination certificate may well be needed for travel abroad in future. “Paper vaccination certificates have been a feature of travel to some countries for many years. “Travel is the obvious example,” he says. Bud envisions such passports being used in a variety of situations.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |