More than 19 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus
and upward of 665 million vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. ****
As these numbers continue to rise, countries have begun issuing or considering
“vaccine passports.”
Vaccine passports — proof through a phone app or on a piece of paper that
you’ve had your shots — are a potential ticket to freedom for millions of
vaccinated people around the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/28/green-pass-how-are-
vaccine-passports-working-in-israel" target="new">Israel already has
them. The European Union and China have also
announced a version of them. In the United States, there’s talk about what
such a certification might look like.
But vaccine passports also raise huge ethical questions, with
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-
tracker.html" target="new">85
percent of shots worldwide having been administered in wealthier
countries. And with private tech companies working on creating these passports
in the United States, there’s worry about the risks of sharing health records
with third-party apps. Both Texas and Florida have prohibited government-
mandated vaccine passports.
On today’s episode, our guests debate the concept of a vaccine passport and
discuss the ethical and privacy considerations that come along with them.
Natalie Kofler is a molecular biologist and bioethicist at Harvard Medical
School. Ramin Bastani is the founder and chief executive of Healthvana, a
patient platform that delivers test results and is supplying vaccine
passports. He says we should think of them more like an everyday health record
— and he thinks we need them to ensure everyone’s safety. Then, we turn to
listener voice mail messages as they share their thoughts on the reopening of
schools.
We want to hear what you’re arguing about with your family, your friends and
your frenemies. Leave us a voice mail message at (347) 915-4324. We may use
excerpts from your audio in a future episode.
Learn More: * “
Vaccine Passports Won’t Get us Out of the Pandemic,” in The Times.
* “
Vaccinated Workers Are Getting Benefits That Those Without Covid Shots Won’t,” in Bloomberg, about vaccine passports in Israel.
* WBUR’s episode on the
pros and cons of vaccine passports.
Read more
More than 19 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus
and upward of 665 million vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. ****
As these numbers continue to rise, countries have begun issuing or considering
“vaccine passports.”
Vaccine passports — proof through a phone app or on a piece of paper that
you’ve had your shots — are a potential ticket to freedom for millions of
vaccinated people around the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/28/green-pass-how-are-
vaccine-passports-working-in-israel" target="new">Israel already has
them. The European Union and China have also
announced a version of them. In the United States, there’s talk about what
such a certification might look like.
But vaccine passports also raise huge ethical questions, with
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-
tracker.html" target="new">85
percent of shots worldwide having been administered in wealthier
countries. And with private tech companies working on creating these passports
in the United States, there’s worry about the risks of sharing health records
with third-party apps. Both Texas and Florida have prohibited government-
mandated vaccine passports.
On today’s episode, our guests debate the concept of a vaccine passport and
discuss the ethical and privacy considerations that come along with them.
Natalie Kofler is a molecular biologist and bioethicist at Harvard Medical
School. Ramin Bastani is the founder and chief executive of Healthvana, a
patient platform that delivers test results and is supplying vaccine
passports. He says we should think of them more like an everyday health record
— and he thinks we need them to ensure everyone’s safety. Then, we turn to
listener voice mail messages as they share their thoughts on the reopening of
schools.
We want to hear what you’re arguing about with your family, your friends and
your frenemies. Leave us a voice mail message at (347) 915-4324. We may use
excerpts from your audio in a future episode.
Learn More: * “
Vaccine Passports Won’t Get us Out of the Pandemic,” in The Times.
* “
Vaccinated Workers Are Getting Benefits That Those Without Covid Shots Won’t,” in Bloomberg, about vaccine passports in Israel.
* WBUR’s episode on the
pros and cons of vaccine passports.
Read less