Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.
To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser.
2021, The BMJ Opinion
Recent debates around “vaccine passports,” or formal/mandatory certification of vaccination, point towards a potential widening societal divide between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. Those with certification of COVID-19 immunisation might be permitted to travel, work, go to the gym, play sports, attend entertainment events, dine in restaurants, and ultimately, return to “normal” life. In our opinion piece, we discuss the implications of imposing vaccine passports & certifications for COVID-19. We argue that vaccine passports can contribute to vaccine hesitancy in two ways: either by increasing citizens’ concerns or by encouraging vaccine uptake. We also stress the urgent need for coordinated, global policy on vaccination passports or certification, and for complementary policies at national and local levels.
2021
ObjectivesWhile the development of vaccines against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) brought the hope of establishing herd immunity, which might help end the global pandemic, vaccine hesitancy can hinder the progress towards herd immunity. In this study, we assess the determinants of vaccine hesitancy, reasons for hesitation, and effectiveness of vaccine passports in relaxing public health restrictions.MethodsThrough an online survey that includes a conjoint experiment of a demographically representative sample of 5,000 Japanese adults aged 20–74, we assess the determinants of vaccine hesitancy, reasons for hesitation, and effectiveness of hypothetical vaccine passports.ResultsWe found that about 30% of respondents did not intend to vaccinate or have not yet decided, with major reasons for vaccine hesitancy being related to concerns about the safety and side effects of the vaccine. In line with previous findings, younger age, lower socioeconomic status, and psychological factors suc...
Working Paper No. 153 The Centre on Migration, Policy & Society University of Oxford , 2021
This article looks at central opportunities and drawbacks of the ‘passportization’ approach to governing the current health emergency. It showcases the complexity of the ‘vaccination passports’ idea, the technological and organisational difficulties expected during implementation, as well as its regrettable appeal. We provide a comprehensive overview on the ongoing discussion with analysis of arguments relating to the ethical, social and legal perspective. We submit that vaccination passports will not become the main tool in the fight with the COVID-19 crisis and are unlikely to play a positive role in the mitigation of its impact. There is no clear and straightforward connection to safety and security, while their rapid introduction might have similar consequences to opening Pandora’s box of discrimination and stigmatization.
Social Science Information, 2023
In response to the global outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, many countries around the world have rushed to develop and implement various mechanisms, including vaccination passports, to contain the spread of the virus and manage its significant impact on heath and society. COVID-19 passports have been promoted as a way of speeding society's return to 'normal' life while protecting public health and safety. These passports, however, are not without controversy. Various concerns have been raised with regard to their social and ethical implications. Framing the discussion within the 'risk society' thesis and drawing on an interview-based study with members of the UK public as well as the relevant literature, this article examines perceptions of COVID-19 vaccine passports. The findings of the study indicate that participants' attitudes toward vaccine passports are primarily driven by factors relating to perceptions of risk. While some considered vaccine passports as a positive strategy to encourage vaccine uptake and facilitate travel and daily activities, others saw this mechanism as a coercive step that might alienate further those who are already vaccine hesitant.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The recent health crises (e.g., COVID-19, Ebola and Monkeypox) have pointed out huge disparities in vaccine accessibility across the world. Nonetheless, certain governments have instituted vaccine passport policies (VPPs) to manage public health, raising mixed concerns from the public. Focusing on COVID-19 outbreak as an example, this review and commentary article utilises an institutional theory perspective to uncover the factors contributing to the global vaccine divide. We also explore the wider impact of VPPs to determine whether such tools promote freedom or social exclusion. Our insights shed light on a controversial and increasingly divisive policy with an international dimension and institutional implications. For instance, while some argue that VPPs may be relatively better than the blunt instrument of lockdowns, VPPs also implicate access and discrimination concerns. Given the various reasons for global vaccine disparities, a hybrid policy that combines vaccine passports w...
2021
Since the first case was reported to the World Health Organisation in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has caused social and economic devastation on a scale not seen since World War 2. As the milestone of 2 years of ‘living with the virus’ approaches, Governments and businesses are desperate to develop interventions that can facilitate the reopening of society whilst still protecting public health. As the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations has gathered pace worldwide, particularly in wealthier countries, those responsible for developing such interventions have begun to focus on the use of digital ‘COVID-19 Vaccine Passports’, which can be used to prove that an individual has had an approved COVID-19 vaccination (both doses where applicable). Governments hope that Vaccine Passports may be used to facilitate international travel and permit increased domestic liberties, for example allowing people to access public venues, to attend large gatherings, or to return to work without compromising personal safety and public health. “Yellow Fever certificates”, required to enter a specific list of countries maintained by the World Health Organisation, provide a precedent for this type of intervention. However, there are concerns that the use of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports could be viewed as a mechanism for introducing a mandatory vaccination policy, and there are also concerns that due to issues related to the unequal global distribution of effective vaccines and ‘the digital divide’ their use could exacerbate inequalities. Here we discuss the ethical and human rights implications of COVID-19 vaccine passports, based on a systematised literature review and documentary analysis. We find that in the context of a global public health emergency, COVID-19 vaccine passports (or, as we discuss, the broader status passes) are ethically and legally permissible under relevant human rights and international health regulations, provided they are designed, implemented, and used in accordance with the least infringement principle and the value of equality. We then set out 18 concrete recommendations for supranational bodies, national governments, and businesses to help ensure they develop and deploy COVID-19 Vaccine Passports accordingly.
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, taking its toll on people’s lives around the world, vaccine passports remain a contentious topic of debate in most liberal democracies. While a small literature on vaccine passports has sprung up over the past few years that considers their ethical pros and cons, in this paper we focus on the question of when vaccine passports are politically legitimate. Specifically, we put forward a ‘public reason ethics framework’ for resolving ethical disputes and use the case of vaccine passports to demonstrate how it works. The framework walks users through a structured analysis of a vaccine passport proposal to determine whether the proposal can be publicly justified and is therefore legitimate. Use of this framework may also help policymakers to design more effective vaccine passports, by incorporating structured input from the public, and thereby better taking the public’s interests and values into account. In short, a public reason ethics frame...
BMJ Global Health, 2021
Journal of Business Ethics
The debate around vaccine passports has been polarising and controversial. Although the measure allows businesses to resume in-person operations and enables transitioning out of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some have expressed concerns about liberty violations and discrimination. Understanding the splintered viewpoints can aid businesses in communicating such measures to employees and consumers. We conceptualise the business implementation of vaccine passports as a moral decision rooted in individual values that influence reasoning and emotional reaction. We surveyed support for vaccine passports on a nationally representative sample in the United Kingdom in 2021: April (n = 349), May (n = 328), and July (n = 311). Drawing on the Moral Foundations Theory—binding (loyalty, authority, and sanctity), individualising (fairness and harm), and liberty values—we find that individualising values are a positive predictor and liberty values a negative predictor of support for passpo...
medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 2021
University of Toronto Journal of Public Health, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on global health for almost two years, resulting in nearly 200 million cases and over 4 million deaths worldwide. Despite a range of non-invasive public health measures, (i.e. physical distancing, and masks) vaccines have been one of the more critical and effective interventions to slow the pandemic. Produced at record-breaking speeds, the highly efficacious mRNA vaccines represented hope for many. Including global health organizations who have called for strategies to maximize vaccine equity since their conception. While many high-income countries (HICs) agreed to prioritize global vaccine equity; in truth, individual health outweighed community health. The reality of HICs vaccine purchasing behaviors and distribution have exposed a different agenda - one that aligns with a neoliberal emphasis on individuals and profits at the expense of global good. This commentary questions the efficacy of global health agreements and the commitm...
IVT Network, 2019
Philosophy in Review, 2012
الأصالة للنشر/ الجزائر (منشورضمن كتاب جماعي), 2021
Jurnal Penelitian Perikanan Indonesia, 2017
Literacy Research and Instruction, 2024
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2008
War in the Ancient World International Conference, celebrado en Graz (Austria) del 13 al 15 de junio de 2024., 2024
Rivista degli Studi Orientali, n.s. XCVII, 1-2 (2024), pp. 77-114
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2020
Biophysical Journal, 2009