The covid passport is not the panacea

A waiter scans the QR code on a customer’s vaccination certificate. / efe

Epidemiologists and vaccinologists agree that it is one more “tool” for controlling the virus, but they ask not to lower our guard

The covid passport, which is nothing more than a digital vaccination card against the coronavirus, reinforces the strategy to prevent the pandemic in the territories that have implemented it, but it is not the “panacea”, the vaccination and epidemic specialists consulted agree . The debate on this safe conduct of vaccines takes place in a context in which the neighboring countries suffer a new aggressive wave in terms of infections, once the basic measures were abolished to improve the numbers.

The Spanish situation, however, is different from that of its neighbors, thanks to the fact that it has around 90% of the youth and adult population vaccinated, and the use of masks indoors has not been abandoned. Despite this apparent advantage, specialists, who have been facing the ravages of the virus for almost two years on the street, do not fail to mention two great allies: vaccines and masks.

“It is not the great panacea that is going to solve the situation,” says Amós García Rojas, epidemiologist, vaccinologist and president of the Spanish Association of Vaccination. “It can be effective in the areas where contagions are most likely to occur, which are closed, poorly ventilated spaces, where we run into friends or family, with whom, due to that relationship of trust, we remove our masks” .

In general, experts support this measure, combined with those that have been in force in recent months. “The medical profession supports it, just as we support vaccination, hand washing, social distance,” says Tomás Cobo, president of the Official College of Physicians (CGCOM).

One circumstance that underpins the defense of adding this additional prevention to those that already exist is that “there is still an age group in which vaccination coverage can be frankly improved,” says Ángela Domínguez, coordinator of the Working Group on Vaccination of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology. “Proving that a person has been vaccinated or is not infected is totally justified in closed leisure places, where dance activities are carried out, restaurants and other places where you cannot have a safety distance or a mask.”

In the eight autonomous communities where the measure is applied, the covid passport identifies those who have the current full doses of the vaccine, “but the requirements may change,” says Domínguez. “Over time you can start asking for the third dose, a negative test diagnosis, having passed the disease or other guarantees.” The covid passport has advantages and disadvantages, according to medical experts.

Advantage

The covid passport is one more “tool”, in Cobo’s words, that helps to control the virus. “We have gone from the defensive phase, so tragic, without sufficient services or equipment, to the attack phase that came with vaccination.” Second, it prevents the unvaccinated, who are at greater risk of severe symptoms, from being exposed to more contagious situations in closed spaces. The vaccinated also have a lower diffusion capacity, according to experts.

On the other hand, it could encourage vaccination in those who for various reasons have not been punctured. However, since the passport was launched, this call effect has not been seen in the figures. “It does not add much and not having it does not make us lose practically anything”, refutes José Martínez Olmos, specialist in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. “But now with the third dose it could be an incentive.”

Finally, it helps prevent, along with other measures, admissions to the ICU, hospitalization and death. “A vaccinated person can still transmit the virus, but clearly in a much more attenuated way,” says Cobo.

Drawbacks

The biggest drawback may be the false sense of security of the wearer. “It gives the impression that all the fish are sold but the passport is not going to prevent the data from continuing to grow,” says García Rojas. Martínez Olmos goes further: «It is too artificial a debate. The important thing here is how we emphasize the control measures of social interaction, how we make people always wear the mask and keep a safe distance. How do we convince people to get vaccinated ”.

Another negative point is its elitist bias in countries where there are few or expensive vaccines. This is not the case in Spain, but it is the case in other regions, where “people who do not have access to doses will be at a disadvantage because they have restricted entry to certain places, and the equity gap widens,” Domínguez warns.

At the national level, it works against the lack of common regulations among the autonomies. Experts demand not to lower your guard. “As long as there are unvaccinated people, the virus will spread and the line will continue to rise,” says García Rojas.