Your Vaccine Passport

Vaccine passports gain traction as delta variant threatens travel rebound
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/11/vac...n-as-delta-variant-threatens-travel-boom.html
  • A survey found 81.8% of Americans support the idea of vaccine passports, digital or physical proof of vaccination against Covid.
  • Acceptance of a vaccine passport mandate from public and private entities varies among age and gender cohorts, according to website Upgraded Points.
  • A federal judge recently ruled in favor of Norwegian Cruise Line’s requirement for proof of passenger vaccination and against the state of Florida’s ban on such mandates.
As the rampant delta variant of Covid threatens the post-pandemic travel and tourism rebound, there’s growing acceptance of so-called vaccine passports among a one-hesitant U.S. public and of increased calls for their mandated use across the industry.

A survey from travel website Upgraded Points of 1,000 people from June 2 to 3 found that 81.8% of U.S. respondents supported the idea of a vaccine passport — usually defined as a paper or digital document proving inoculation against Covid-19 — and 54.9% said airlines, hotel and other travel companies should require proof of vaccination from customers.

Three in 4 agreed airlines should require proof of vaccination before customers fly. A majority (58%, on average) also think airlines, cruise ships, trains and buses should segregate vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers.

That public take aligns with what Vikkie Walker, senior travel reporter on vaccine passports at website The Points Guy, said is the general industry position.

“The travel industry has been generally supportive of digital health or vaccine passports because they see it as something that will streamline the overall travel experience, especially for air travel,” she said.

“I’ve also seen many destinations, particularly those dependent on tourism, support the idea or begin rolling them out,” said Walker, noting that hesitation among some travelers is more “about the digital component [an app, etc.], over an actual vaccine requirement.”

Still, 61% of those surveyed told Upgraded Points they think all vaccine passports actually do infringe on the rights of the unvaccinated. However, 50.9% of them also said they themselves would be more likely to just go ahead and get the jab if it were required for domestic travel.

Alex Miller, founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, said he suspects the acceptance of vaccine passports would have been lower had the survey been conducted just a few months earlier.

“Vaccine passports have become more and more of a reality with time and appear to be a potential path to normalcy,” he said. “The more they are discussed and even introduced, the more likely people may be to get the vaccine, which will ultimately aid in the overall goal of limiting the spread of Covid-19.”

Mandates may be on the way, at least in some locales.

Starting Monday, New York City will require proof of vaccination from workers and customers at gyms, restaurants and indoor entertainment venues such as movie theaters and concert halls, although strict enforcement won’t begin until Sept. 13, to give businesses time to ramp up.

At Broadway shows raising their curtains again this fall, theatergoers will be required to not only show proof of vaccination but wear a mask, too. Indoor venues in the Big Apple such as Broadway theaters will accept physical vaccination cards as well as digital proof such as the city’s own Covid Safe App and New York state’s Excelsior Pass.

Other states such as Florida, Missouri and Texas, meanwhile, have banned vaccine passports outright, but Miller said he thinks Gotham may be just the first jurisdictional domino to fall.

“New York City mandating proof of vaccination is a big step for vaccine passports and will likely pave the way for more cities, states and companies to do the same,” he said.

On the corporate front, Disney Cruise Line is resuming U.S. sailings with no vaccine requirement but mandated masking and Covid testing, while competitor Norwegian Cruise Line has taken a different stance, demanding proof of vaccination from all passengers.

Cruising toward vaccine passport acceptance?

That position has put it at odds with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who banned vaccine passports in the Sunshine State earlier this year, including on cruises such as Norwegian’s departing local ports. But the line won a legal victory Sunday, when U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled that Norwegian — likely to ultimately prevail in its view that the ban, signed into law July 1, is unconstitutional and a threat to public health — could in fact require proof of passenger vaccinations on sailings from Miami and other Florida ports. (The state is appealing the decision.)

“We are pleased that Judge Williams saw the facts, the law and the science as we did and granted the company’s motion for preliminary injunction allowing us to operate cruises from Florida with 100% vaccinated guests and crew,” said Daniel S. Farkas, executive vice president and general counsel of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, in a statement.

Farkas added that the cruise line’s vaccination proof requirement is “an effort to do our part as responsible corporate citizens to minimize, to the greatest extent possible, further spread of Covid-19 as we gradually relaunch our vessels.”

Cruise customers who aren’t willing to provide such proof can choose to not patronize companies like Norwegian, Upgraded Points’ Miller said.

“The big difference between private company and government mandates is that an individual can choose to avoid a certain private company that enacts a policy they do not agree with whereas a government mandate is usually unavoidable,” Farkas said.

That puts popular foreign destinations with vaccination requirements and/or proof of negative Covid tests out of practical reach for the unvaccinated for now. Canada, for example, reopened its borders to U.S. visitors on Monday, but only to vaccinated people who have tested negative within three days and have also filled out an application on the new ArriveCAN web platform and smartphone app.

The Upgraded Points survey found that vaccine passport attitudes are tied, in some respects, to age and gender. Baby boomers are the least accepting, at 76.9%, whereas Gen Z is the most open to the idea, at 86%.

Women are about 7% more likely to support vaccine passports than men but among the unvaccinated, men “are roughly 12% more likely to be incentivized by a vaccine passport requirement to get the vaccine,” Miller said.

But attitudes toward vaccination are not cut-and-dried. Upgraded Points found that boomers, while less supportive of vaccine passports, are also the most wary when it comes to traveling in close quarters with unvaccinated strangers. Some 57.7% said they’d feel uncomfortable on a two-hour domestic flight without a mask not knowing fellow passengers’ vaccination status, compared with just 37% of Gen Zers.

“While it makes sense as those who are older are more at risk, there is a disconnect among personal comfort levels and support for vaccine passport policies intended to provide peace of mind,” Miller said.
 
Here in Québec they will soon use Vaccination Passports beginning September 1st to correlate with the rest of the world that have already started using such (e.g. France).

This is very important too because the United States border has re-open for U.S. citizens to cross the border into Canada. They can now avoid the mandatory 14 days of quarantine that costs thousands of dollars if they have a Vaccination Passport.

More important, within Québec since vaccination begins...most of those Hospitalized, ICU admission and Deaths have been those not vaccinated. Just as concerning, it's slowly getting worst.

As a promise to owners of restaurants, bars, gyms, public events, and air travel that demanded protection from the government that was seen as weak in dealing with the growing problem of those not vaccinated threatening the livelihood of the owners and their clients...

In my opinion, restaurants, bars, gyms, and public events are not a right. If you don't want to be vaccinated...you can eat at home with friends, you can work out at home, you can drink at home...use your patio or use your backyard...complete freedom with your bullshit threatening the safety of other Quebecers.

Quebec to implement COVID-19 vaccine passport on Sept. 1 in the face of 'inevitable' 4th wave

Vaccine passports will be needed to access public events, bars, restaurants, and gyms

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Covid-Quebec-Vaccination-Passport.png



Quebec's health minister says a vaccination passport system will be implemented on Sept. 1 to combat rising COVID-19 cases and an "inevitable" fourth wave.

"Taking into account the increase in cases, the fall coming up with the back to school and back to work and the expected prevalence of the delta variant, the conditions are there to deploy the vaccination passport," Christian Dubé said.

Dubé unveiled some details about the system, announced last week by Premier François Legault, alongside two public health officials — Dr. Yves Jalbert, a strategic medical adviser, and Caroline Roy, an adviser on matters related to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

The vaccine passport will be implemented in places with high capacity and a high rate of contact, such as festivals, bars, restaurants, gyms and training facilities to avoid the widespread closures that marked the first waves of COVID-19 in Quebec.

When asked about religious gatherings and weddings, Dubé said the government is still discussing whether they will be included as events that require vaccine passports.
  • For the time being, the vaccination passport will not be used in retail stores or schools.
Dubé emphasized the system is the only way to keep the economy open and still protect the health system from being overwhelmed as it was in previous waves. He says a fourth wave, driven by the delta variant, is "inevitable" in Quebec.

According to Jalbert, delta is behind a third of new infections in Quebec, but public health officials predict that it will account for half of them in the coming weeks.

While clients of certain non-essential services, like bars, will need to be vaccinated and have a QR code to prove it, the same will not be required of staff. Dubé says that mandating vaccines for staff would break labour laws.

Children under 12 will not need to provide proof of vaccination as there are no approved COVID-19 vaccines for that age group. People 12 and older, who are eligible for vaccination, will be required to.

When asked about people who cannot get the vaccine for medical reasons, Dubé said further details will follow regarding exemptions.

Quebec is still considering making vaccinations compulsory for health workers and promised an update within the next few days. As for schools, Dubé had no additional information. A news briefing with Education Minister Jean-François Roberge is slated for tomorrow.

Dubé also announced the return of weekly news conferences updating the province on the epidemiological situation.

2 pilot projects

The passport will be used on an app that is being tested this week. Two pilot projects are planned: one at a sports bar in Quebec City starting Wednesday for two days, another next week at a gym in the Vimont district of Laval, just north of Montreal.

Dubé says the government wants to have the smartphone application ready for use across the province by September, though people who do not have a smartphone will be able to use the paper vaccination certificates issued at vaccine centres. They can also print out their QR code or request a paper version by mail.

Dubé says the application will read the QR code sent to people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Businesses will need to download an application to read the QR codes and clients will need a different application to display them. Both apps should be available later this month and will be free.

As for what kind of data the app collects? "None... It's only a reading application, that's it," Dubé clarified.

With regard to travellers from other provinces and from outside the country, Dubé indicated that he is in talks with the federal government to harmonize the vaccination passport with the ArriveCan app.

So far, 84 per cent of eligible Quebecers (aged 12 and up) have received a first dose, Dubé said Tuesday.

He said he'd like to see all of those who have had one dose receive a second by the end of the month, meaning 1.1 million doses need to be administered by Aug. 31.

'A useful tool'

Dr. Gaston De Serres, a medical epidemiologist with the province's public health institute, believes a vaccination passport system would fare well at encouraging adults aged 20 to 39 to get vaccination. Vaccine bookings already shot up after Legault's announcement last week.

"We need to improve the vaccine coverage in these age groups which, at the present time, is clearly insufficient," De Serres said, pointing to the group's vaccination rate sitting under the province's 75 per cent benchmark. He says this age group makes up about 50 per cent of the province's new cases.

"So the vaccine passport in this regard is certainly a useful tool to be an incentive for people to be vaccinated."

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante applauded the provincial government's announcement on Twitter, calling it "good news to ensure that our restaurateurs, our bars, our festivals do not relive the difficulties of the past year."

The vice-president of the Quebec wing of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), François Vincent, says it is "reassuring to hear the government's objective of avoiding a new lockdown at all costs."
Quebec's civil liberties union, the Ligue des droits et libertés (LDL), though, is taking issue with the vaccine passport system, saying there has not been any time for a proper public debate and citing concerns about data security.

Quebec joins two other provinces, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island, that require two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to access certain non-essential services.
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Note: Most using vaccination passports as an option...show proof of vaccination, wear a face mask, or show a recent Covid negative test. Simply, there's still a way for the Covidiots to show they're doing what it takes to protect others in their environment before life becomes much worst for them beyond a Covid Hospitalization.

wrbtrader
 
Wallet said:
Just what the world needs, a mandatory vaccine pass for a vaccine that does not prevent you from spreading a virus.
More...

Covid vaccines were designed for effectiveness in preventing Hospitalization, ICU admissions, and Deaths.
Preventing spread was something public health officials wanted nor did the vaccine makers marketed their vaccine to prevent spread.

To prevent spread, you will need a vaccine that has 100% efficacy. There has never been such a vaccine in the history of vaccination with a 100% efficacy nor is it possible to maintain such from one month to the next month because viruses do in fact mutate (variants).

Instead, they market vaccines as that it reduces the risk of spread.
  • Reminder, you still have options...show proof a recent Covid negative test.
Yet, that option will obviously become a pain in the ass because you'll need to show proof a recent Covid negative test for every restaurant, bar, gym, public event, air travel...each and every time.

wrbtrader
 
wrbtrader said:
Covid vaccines were designed for effectiveness in preventing Hospitalization, ICU admissions, and Deaths.
Preventing spread was something public health officials wanted nor did the vaccine makers marketed their vaccine to prevent spread.

To prevent spread, you will need a vaccine that has 100% efficacy. There has never been such a vaccine in the history of vaccination with a 100% efficacy nor is it possible to maintain such from one month to the next month because viruses do in fact mutate (variants).

Instead, they market vaccines as that it reduces the risk of spread.
  • Reminder, you still have options...show proof a recent Covid negative test.
Yet, that option will obviously become a pain in the ass because you'll need to show proof a recent Covid negative test for every restaurant, bar, gym, public event, air travel...each and every time.

wrbtrader
More...

Unfortunately what you say is not today’s narrative. Just yesterday I was labeled everything from unpatriotic to an enemy of the US.

Tomorrow I expect the message to be I need to be arrested and sent to some re-education camp, forced to take the vaccine or summarily executed.

Laugh today, but remember this post.

A covid-pass will not prevent vaccinated people from catching and passing covid to others.
 
Wallet said:
Unfortunately what you say is not today’s narrative. Just yesterday I was labeled everything from unpatriotic to an enemy of the US.

Tomorrow I expect the message to be I need to be arrested and sent to some re-education camp, forced to take the vaccine or summarily executed.

Laugh today, but remember this post.

A covid-pass will not prevent vaccinated people from catching and passing covid to others.
More...

You are aware that anyone in the 1950s and 1960s who refused to be vaccinated was considered unpatriotic and and enemy of democracy. This is not anything new.
 
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