Dithering Until It's Too Late

While we wait for herd immunity, more and more of us are getting vaccinated.  In some ways, the new world - or some semblance of it - has arrived if you've had your second jab and have waited a few weeks to be sure.  What does that semblance of a new world look like?

Right now, it looks fragmented, unsure, and contentious.  Vaccinations should unlock new levels of mitigation - opportunities to gather in ways that most reasonable people haven't considered for a year.  But how do we know the others in the room are vaccinated?

If this conversation sounds familiar, it is.  Vaccination is in full swing in many countries,* but, incredibly, the key to moving vaccinated people into the new world - some universal way to prove you've been vaccinated - is not. 

There is no consensus anywhere, except in a couple of countries (Israel and Greece) which have developed "digital vaccination certificates."**  But the various countries of the EU cannot agree on what form a universal certificate should take - or even if there should be one.  Dr. Fauci seems to be pleading for a way to certify vaccinated individuals so they don't have to be as stringent on public health issues:  "It's common sense."  And the CDC has recommended that fully vaccinated people do not have to quarantine if they come in contact with someone who is infected (although quarantine has been, essentially, voluntary from the beginning).  But no universal "mark of the V."  And the British government said "it is studying the possibility of issuing some kind of “COVID status certification.'"

tl:dr:  No universal vaccination pass yet.  And it looks like we'll be dithering until it's too late.  

Just one note about "inequality."  The opposition to universal vaccination passes is almost entirely focused on the inequities that are the logical result of the process.  People who have not been vaccinated will be restricted, isolated, unable to participate in the new world.  Boris Johnson, at the same time he spoke about developing Britain's COVID status certification, said, "“We can’t be discriminatory against people who, for whatever reason, can’t have the vaccine.”

Yes we can.  Separating those who have been vaccinated from those who haven't is wise public health policy.  It's only for a few months.  Negative tests can substitute for vaccination passes.  The alternative is to not "discriminate," which will extend the pandemic and kill more people.  Let's not give up when we're so close to the new world.

* - ...but not in others.  Many countries - almost entirely poor countries - have yet to begin vaccinations.

** - The airlines are also working on this.  More on air travel and vaccine passes soon.