Pirate's Cove

You know this had to be inevitable in this crazy SJW/Virtue Signal/Offended period of time, right? And they just skipped the triple dare and went straight for the throat with the triple dog dare

What you need to know about COVID-19 vaccine passports — and the ‘double privilege’ dilemma they raise for society

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Vaccine passports are “not only reasonable,” he said but “would make me a heck of a lot more comfortable doing things in public.”

Travelers like Schwartzman may view the development of vaccine passports as critical to resuming their excursions across the globe. But vaccine passports have many practical applications outside of vacationing. At the same time, experts warn there could be significant health risks and equity concerns associated with these “passports” that outweigh the benefits.

Vaccine passports and requirements are not a new concept, especially for people who have traveled to a tropical location overseas.

“The reason we have to get vaccinated against yellow fever to go to Brazil, for example, is that the Brazilian government says, ‘No vaccine, no entry,’” said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University.

Also known as the “Yellow Card,” the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis functions similar to a vaccine passport. The document, nicknamed based on its yellow color, is filled out by physicians who administer vaccines required for entry by different countries. It is most commonly used for the yellow fever vaccine, but any vaccine approved by the World Health Organization can be listed on the document.

Of course, these are meant for moving from nation to nation, not for showing your papers when you want to go to the movies.Again, I’m not necessarily against them, I just wonder What Could Go Wrong when government is creating these things with all your private data, and then able to track your movements. Anyhow, as we know, NY is requiring one of these even to attend a wedding

“The reopening of key economic activities in New York State, such as arts and entertainment venues, stadiums and arenas, and weddings and catered events, will require proof of a vaccine or negative test for attendees,” a notice posted on the New York Health Department’s site states.

The system utilizes health records captured by the state’s government — eliminating the possibility of someone forging a document, according to a spokesman for the governor’s office. Users sign up online, and the system pulls the relevant health information from the government database to verify the person received a negative COVID-19 test result or one of the available vaccines.

But, is that actually legal, using a person’s private health data? This could be a potential big violation of HIPAA if citizens haven’t consented in writing. There is an interesting explanation of how this is all supposed to work, especially in terms of security. But, let’s jump to

In the U.S. nearly 70% of more than 52 million people who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus are white and non-Hispanic as of Tuesday, according to data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite getting hit hardest by coronavirus, both from a health and economic perspective, Black and Latino Americans are disproportionately getting vaccinated at lower rates compared to white, non-Hispanic Americans.

On top of this, Black Americans in particular are more hesitant to get vaccinated. Some of that hesitancy stems from mistrust of the medical establishment, the result of a history of medical racism and experimentation on people of color.

In February, 22% of American adults indicated that they want to “wait and see” how the shots work for other people before they get vaccinated themselves, according to polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-policy think tank. That’s down from December when some 39% of Americans said they’d wait and see.

Among Black and Hispanic adults 34% and 26% of respondents fell into the wait-and-see category in February, according to KFF.

So, if they want to wait and see and be way more hesitant, that’s on them, right? Nope

Taken together, while vaccine supply is still limited, if vaccine passports are widely used not only for travel but for other social events such as concerts, broadway shows, nightclubs, it would “double privilege” people got vaccinated early on, said Christine Whelan, clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison.

What’s more: If different communities are receiving contradictory messages regarding vaccine effectiveness and potential side-effects, vaccine passports could ultimately “be a slippery slope for deepening equity gaps.”

“Allowing them to do special things because of that just doesn’t sit quite right,” said Whelan, who is chief happiness officer at Dear Pandemic, a science-communication project.