Mandating COVID-19 vaccines and related passports have had damaging political, legal, and socioeconomic effects; while also destabilizing the integrity of science and public health, according to new research published at the BMJ Global Health, a global online health journal based in London.
Several countries have implemented vaccine mandates and passports to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, with some introducing them through the democratic process while others imposing them via emergency declarations, said the May 26 research report titled “The unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy.”
Vaccine passports risk “enshrining discrimination” into law based on the “perceived health status” of individuals, even against those who might not be vaccinated but have recovered from prior infection and are generally at lower risk of a COVID-19 infection. Also considered is the data privacy and security aspect of vaccine passports….