Equity and Protection, Nature Medicine, Food Insecurity, Gender, Race, Treatment, United States
development

Organisations. Nature Medicine
Period. 30 May - 10 June 2020
  • As countries eagerly hope to end the lockdowns that have decimated national economies, one idea that has gained traction is the issuance of immunity passports to those that have either tested negative or recovered from COVID-19. In Nature, however, an article this week outlines four practical challenges and six ethical objections to immunity passports:
    1. Unclear whether recovered patients develop immunity to future exposure to virus.
    2. Serological testing for antibodies remains unreliable (low specificity and specificity).
    3. No country has sufficient serological testing capacity (minimum of two per person).
    4. Only a small fraction of the population would be certified (e.g. less than 0.5% of the U.S. population based on current number of confirmed cases).
    5. Systems to monitor immunity will erode privacy and increase the risk of forgery.
    6. Marginalized communities will be disproportionately impacted, including profiling and potential harms to racial, sexual, religious or other minority groups.
    7. Unfair access due to testing shortages and systemic inequities.
    8. Create further inequity between immuno-privileged and vulnerable communities.
    9. Could open the possibility for discrimination on the basis of other health information (e.g. mental health status, genetic tests) by employers, insurers, or law enforcement.
    10. Can lead to perverse incentives, e.g. if social and economic liberties are only granted to people who recover from COVID-19.

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