Ask HN: Do you agree with Covid passports? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do you agree with Covid passports?

6 pointswhitepaint25 comments

As a hotel manager: Absolutely. It's absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of everyone else.

Edit, to add:

The alternative is a hotel full of anti-mask / "COVID isn't real" idiots, and ... well, nope.

Not even going to entertain those folks, and will gladly eat the commission and relocation costs.

Not having to deal with those kinds of people would make for a better experience for everyone else.

Not at all! It sets a dangerous precedent. Today it is supposed immunity to an over-hyped malady, tomorrow you have to prove you've had proper training in diversity and/or some sort of societal compliance.

Not to mention that the same people telling us we MUST move forward with COVID passports reject the idea of mandatory Voter IDs...

Some sort of voter id is always necessary though. The forms mailed have an id derived from a database full of ids. You gotta be able to ensure 1 (qualified) person, 1 vote.

Nope. If you watch the latest rounds of Fauci, he is still recommending masks to people who have had the jab, and in fact to people who have had Covid and recovered. If he believes you can still transmit after these, then I'm going to side with him. To those who would argue its political pandering. Which party? He's advised 7 presidents, and was put in his role by Reagan.

Given you are still a carrier (according to Fauci), what would the passport server?

> what would the passport serve

To store the results of your PCR and other tests in a uniform way.

So your PCR score indicates you've had the shot and you're immune to the strain you've had. And that means nothing really. You can still catch and transmit other strains. So sure it tells people they won't die of X but Y and Z are still on the table. So are A, B and C. (again according to Fauci)

Also. Uniform? Countries can't agree on how they present dates and numbers. 1.000,00. How many meetings would it take to agree on a Uniform passport that would work internationally. How much would it cost to set up a commission to sort that out.

What about fake passports? Would there be a database? Who would build that? Who would be able to add to it? What security measure would be in place to protect the private medical data of the people?

How much would it cost?

Now given the cost (lets get real millions upon millions) and that the eventual document would be nearly worthless (because of strains). I'm a solid nope on this..

Much better use of tax dollars. Make masks with American flags on them. (or country of your choice). Print these by the millions, and give them out for free.

You raised some valid concerns. To me it's hilarious that a vaccine to a completely novel disease was developed in two months yet marking people who are safe to travel is more problematic. Is bureaucracy more difficult than science?

Sorry - what are you saying you don't agree with? Requiring the verification of having received a covid vaccine to travel? What does that have to do with masks and Fauci?

The immediate effect of such measure is the increase of people's mobility and the consequential economic boost. The side effect is the increase of segregation and inequality. Of course, people whose benefit from a covid passport don't care about this, because segregation and inequality don't affect them. The real question is if you agree or not with making poor people more miserable than they already are just to feel like it's already "normal" again.

Agreed. And what kind of steps would a person who's had the shot have to go through to get the passport? Would it be internationally recognised. Who would administer it? How much would it cost the tax payers to admin it?

Australia spent > 80 million on the CovidSafe app, and AFIK its helped trace ~8 people.

> The side effect is the increase of segregation and inequality

aren't vaccines being administered based on "need" (age, being at-risk etc)? How does poverty enter the equation?

Speaking about my country, vaccines are being administered based on age and occupational hazard but there are no vaccines for all, so vaccines are being administered in privileged areas of big urban centers. If you live in a poor area of a big city, you are at your own; if you live in less developed areas or rural areas you are at your own too. So, yes, poverty is a big part of the equation specially when there are no vaccines for all.

There’s already an International standard vaccination card (WHO yellow card), and some countries require proof of various vaccines to enter. I have one.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Certificate_of...

This isn’t new to SARS-CoV-2.

From a totally personal/non-policy perspective:

On one hand, I feel I might be selfish for supporting something that’s obviously in my interest given I’m vaccinated. And hey, if I’m vaccinated, I shouldn’t be so worried about being in a room with people who aren’t, right?

But then I consider the anti-vaccination crowd are perfectly happy to let me take on all the risks of what they think is dangerous/bad/whatever, so why shouldn’t I also reap the rewards?

Though I do feel bad about those who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons caught up in the middle.

Ultimately I suppose on balance I would let businesses decide, and maybe have the government grant them some kind of immunity for it.

Agree with? No.

But I don't have a better alternative for many applications, so I'm onboard just based on that fact.

Don't forget the real tax cost of setting it up. Millions on millions. On something that might, sort of do something? 20 new hospitals or a covid passport?

I do, the alternative being worse. You have always been requested proof of vaccination for some things like traveling or certain jobs.

Sure, there is some space for distopian hypothesis, but I do no believe them to be realistic issues.

My only complaint is how the EU decided to call them "green". That's the most absurdist greenwashing I have ever seen.

No.

No, especially since the news has been blasted all over the internet in the last 10 minutes.

Will happily support underground businesses run by real humans instead.

What’s a real human?

To me, a real human is someone who will provide me an economic good or service without requiring that I show them a government/medical document that alleges I've received a coronavirus vaccine.

Vaccines are only effective for a period of time due to the changing nature of viruses. For example, the Japanese encephilitis vaccine only lasts 1-2 years and you are recommended to pay for expensive new shots if you travel in the region and are concerned about the virus.

If you allow the government and large institutions to say you can't receive a service if you don't take a laundry list of vaccines which have side effects, then you will seemingly allow them to require you do many other potentially dangerous things that are unrelated to stepping foot on a cruise ship.

It is not known how long Japanese Encephalitis immunity lasts, according to Wikipedia.

From the CDC themselves:

How long does the Japanese encephalitis vaccination last? The duration of protection is unknown. A booster dose may be given if the primary two-dose vaccination series was given one year or more previously and there is continued risk of exposure.

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