Covid-19 is here to stay for a long time. There is no medicine or vaccine to treat the disease at this point of time though there are many under development and there's hope we will get them soon.?
But countries cannot function without finding a way to run the economies. So how do we ensure the movement of people without putting lives in danger??That's where an immunity passport comes in.?
What is Immunity Passport??
An immunity passport also known as an immunity certificate is a document which suggests that its bearer is immune to a contagious disease.?The coronavirus has left us no choice. Until now, governments all around the world were choosing life over livelihood by restricting the citizens with lockdowns. But as we see the focus has shifted to livelihood with only one hope that the doctors and hospital will save the lives of the people.?
This makes the governments implement the use of an ¡®immunity passport¡¯. Conversations around this passport have started but WHO stands against the idea.?
According to WHO -¡°immunity passport¡± or ¡°risk-free certificate¡± that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection. There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection¡±.
Still, there are some places and countries who have gone ahead with the idea. China launched the immunity passport in February on an experimental basis with the help of a tech company Alibaba. By April, they implemented it in most parts of China as the country lifted its lockdown.?
While travelling to China requires to have a favourable health code. People need to fill their personal details like name, phone number, passport number or national identity number, share health related information, travel history, if you are in contact with any coronavirus positive person.?
China actually inspired governments in many countries with this model of contact tracing.
India has also allowed travel for only those who have the Aarogya Setu app on their phones which shows green bands - as a symbol that the person is safe. However, this is a self declaration based app.?
In other countries like the UK, US, Germany, Japan, Russia and many other countries are considering this model for public movement.