Hi Lockdown Sceptics
I recently responded to the Government's invitation for comments on vaccine passports and made the point that this could actually make it less likely that new vaccines would ever be available. Here's my comment - hope it's of interest.
"I am an individual and a volunteer on a vaccine study. I wish to respond to this call for evidence.
The debate which took place in the Commons recently raised many very relevant concerns about vaccine certification.
Requiring evidence of covid status in order to go about one's daily life is an extremely alarming prospect to me as an individual. I have never questioned the wisdom of vaccination in the past but I instinctively and powerfully resent the idea of being coerced (which is effectively what certification is) to submit to any form of medical intervention and I know that I am not alone in this reaction. Certification will inevitably lead to unintended consequences of unfairness, and be hugely divisive, in a situation where there is already bitter division. Those who do not have certification will be stigmatised despite the fact that they may have good medical, religious or other reasons. They will also quite simply be denied access to most of society. Even to think of certification is to ask the question whether such a draconian measure is proportional to the risk, and the huge cost. And what is the evidence that, once vulnerable people have received a vaccine, covid-19 will continue to be such a significant risk to the population as a whole?
Rather than address each of your points I would like to point out just one unforeseen consequence, and that is the question of whether certification will actually make it difficult or impossible to develop new vaccines.
Along with tens of thousands of volunteers, I am taking part in a trial of a new vaccine for Covid-19. Such studies take about two years in order to understand both short and long term effects. Typically a study will be "double blinded", with half the participants receiving the vaccine and half a placebo. Volunteers can have their results "unblinded" in order to take up the offer of an approved vaccine but in that case they would have to withdraw from the study. If too many volunteers withdrew, the study could not proceed and potentially that vaccine would not become available for use.
I have a robust constitution and am happy to take what I regard as a small risk over the next two years that I may not have received the vaccine and may fall ill with Covid-19. However, the issue of "vaccine passports" is now a thorny problem. If I wish to be allowed to participate in normal human activity, I would have to withdraw from the study in order to be vaccinated with an approved vaccine.
If I don't want to withdraw from the study, I must accept being treated as a second class citizen for at least two years, or possibly I may be allowed to have a life again provided that I can produce negative test results for any activity that I want to participate in. The minimum cost of a test is £99. What if this were needed every time I set foot in a restaurant, a gym, visit a care home, a library, a place of study, go to a theatre or sports stadium, go on holiday, etc. How accurate will the result of the test be? To put it mildly, this is a strong disincentive to anyone considering volunteering for vaccine trials, yet without such trials there will be no vaccines."
