Can Immunity Passports Really Work for Air Travel?

[mountaineer]

Can Immunity Passports Really Work for Air Travel?
by Elizabeth Heath
Feb. 23, 2021

With the travel industry still reeling in the midst of the pandemic, a new lifeline may save both airlines and travelers—the immunity passport. Intended as a way of ensuring passengers are COVID-free before they board, immunity passports are touted as the way of the future—but are they? Our Magic 8-Ball response: Don’t count on it.

What Is an Immunity Passport?

An immunity passport is the nebulous name for any number of apps that will verify a traveler’s status relative to COVID-19. Originally conceived as verification that someone had already had COVID-19 and was therefore immune from catching it again, the term has been broadened as the pandemic has evolved. Now, a so-called immunity passport may show evidence of one or more of the following:

    A negative COVID test
    Proof that you’ve already had COVID-19
    Proof that you carry COVID-19 antibodies
    Proof that you’ve completed a COVID vaccine

In theory, air travelers would flash the app at check-in or upon boarding a plane and be free to travel to any destination that accepts the immunity passport as verification of “safe” traveler status. If broadly accepted, an immunity passport could quite literally open doors for passengers to enter airports and airplanes, cruise ships, hotels, resorts, and entire countries and continents.  ...

Multiple Providers

Dozens of companies have launched immunity passport apps, some with dodgy credentials, and many with no assurance that they’ll be accepted by any or all travel providers or border control. Even more established apps might not pass muster worldwide, says Nick Lambe of TravelSafe Systems, which has developed its own passport app, iWarrant. For example, the Travel Pass app in development by the IATA (International Air Transport Association) uses blockchain technology, a system that is not permitted under Europe’s rigid GDPR privacy laws for personal identifiable data (PII). ...

On top of that, pile on the lack of long-term studies of vaccine duration—will travelers vaccinated this spring still be immune from the virus a year from now? ...

Read complete article at Airfare Watchdog

[Gefn]

I’m not going to fly again. Which really isn’t a biggie, the last time I flew was in 2006.

[mountaineer]

I am willing never to fly again, even though it would have been nice to make another genealogical excursion to Europe. Oh well. I just hope the need to fly does not arise.

[Hoodat]

I've been flying throughout the pandemic.  Last flight I took was completely full.

The immunity passport would have been a good idea a year ago, but there was an election to rig.  So they instead pushed the lie that there was no immunity to be had - a lie that Fauci and the CDC continue to push, even with the vaccine.

[Gefn]

I am willing never to fly again, even though it would have been nice to make another genealogical excursion to Europe. Oh well. I just hope the need to fly does not arise.

I have friends in England, and I wanted to see Paris next year for my “big” birthday. I just don’t know. Sigh. I just don’t think it will happen.

[mountaineer]

The question is, now that the totalitarians have won the election, how far are they going to take this irrational Covid tyranny, and for how long? They would have us believe Maine's recent lifting of the quarantine requirement of Massachusetts residents is a monumental act of benevolence.

... Loosening travel rules

Travelers from New Hampshire and Vermont were already allowed to visit Maine without quarantining or being tested for COVID-19. Beginning immediately, travelers coming from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island can bypass the quarantine and testing requirements, Mills said.

"So people can now move freely among the New England states without testing or quarantining," Mills said.

Additionally, anyone from any state who either recently had COVID-19 or has been fully vaccinated for the virus can come to Maine without quarantining. Federal requirements related to international travel remain in effect.

The plan is to loosen the restrictions even further on May 1, when Maine will allow people from any U.S. state, except those states that Maine has listed for exclusion, to visit without quarantining.  ... Seacoast Online

We were hoping to visit Boston (driving there, not flying) this year, but as it stands, Massachusetts mandates a 10-day quarantine (or $500 per day fine) for out-of-staters. This is ridiculous and completely unscientific. Thankfully - and surprisingly - Pennsylvania just lifted its quarantine requirements, so we'll be able to drive to Gettysburg next month so Mr. M can run the marathon. 

[Fishrrman]

Whether the "immunity passports" and the restrictions that come along with them will "work"... is unknown.

What IS "known" is that they will be imposed upon us.
Not if, but when.

Regardless, I won't be setting foot on an aircraft again in my life.
Last time I was on a big jet was 1984.
Them days... is over.

[mountaineer]

I would bet my life savings (ever dwindling now, thanks to Joe Biden) that there is absolutely no scientific basis nor need for universal Covid vaccination.

[mountaineer]

Here's another reason to reconsider flying - FAA forcing air traffic controllers to wear masks is making it extremely difficult for them to communicate with pilots. Alex Berenson, former NYT reporter, has posted the following:

AN URGENT WARNING FROM AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER WHO SAYS THE FAA’S INSISTENCE IN WEARING MASKS WHILE SPEAKING TO PILOTS NOW PRESENTS A SAFETY RISK.
This is real; he sent his ID to confirm his identity.
3:21 PM · Mar 7, 2021

https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1368657965553758224/photo/1

[Hoodat]

Here's another reason to reconsider flying - FAA forcing air traffic controllers to wear masks is making it extremely difficult for them to communicate with pilots.

There are times when safety must take a back seat to virtue signaling.  While not in the optical view of pilots on the other end of radio communication, the donning of a mask in view of your fellow air traffic controllers takes precedent over the ability of those pilots to clearly hear instructions given through those masks.

[mountaineer]

Travel groups ask U.S. to lead "virus passport" development
CBSNews 1 hr ago

Leading airline and business groups are asking the Biden administration to develop temporary credentials that would let travelers show they have been tested and vaccinated for COVID-19, a step that the airline industry believes will help revive travel and hospitality spending decimated by the pandemic.

Various groups and countries are working on developing so-called vaccine passports aimed at allowing more travel. But airlines fear that a smattering of regional credentials will cause confusion and none will be widely accepted.

"It is crucial to establish uniform guidance" and "the U.S. must be a leader in this development," more than two dozen groups said in a letter Monday to White House coronavirus-response coordinator Jeff Zients. However, the groups said that vaccination should not be a requirement for domestic or international travel.

The groups include the main U.S. and international airline trade organizations, airline labor unions and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The White House did not immediately comment.  ...

CBS News via MSN

How about no vaccine passport at all? Works for me.

[mountaineer]

China Is Launching a Vaccine Passport — What to Know
It will be available through a WeChat program and can be both electronic or paper format.
By Alison Fox March 09, 2021

As inoculation programs continue around the world, China is rolling out a vaccine passport in anticipation of international travel resuming.

The country's vaccine passport will show people's vaccination status as well as any relevant test results, according to The Straits Times. The certificate will be available through a WeChat program and can be both electronic or paper format.

"The pandemic is still with us, but the world economy needs to be restarted and people-to-people exchanges resumed with no more delays," ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, according to the paper.

The vaccine passport will likely first be put to use between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, the Global Times reported, eliminating the need to quarantine upon arrival.

But ultimately, the success of a vaccine passport is dependent on it being recognized by other nations and The Strait Times reported it wasn't clear which other countries were in talks with Beijing to accept its certificate. ...

Travel and Leisure, citing The Straits Times.

[Hoodat]

How subtly they transition from 'immunity' passport to 'vaccine' passport.