immunity passport

File:Health and Acclimation Certificate (cropped).gif

Quarantine has been used since ancient times as a method of limiting the spread of infectious disease. Consequently, there has also been a need for documents attesting that a person has completed quarantine or is otherwise known not to be infectious. One of the oldest known immunity passports, issued in 1578 in Venice, was found by Jacek Partyka,{{Cite web |title=Stare druki - Blog Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej - Uniwersytet Jagielloński |url=https://blog.bj.uj.edu.pl/stare-druki/-/journal_content/56_INSTANCE_gJh937aPNE4h/136002189/150945795 |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=blog.bj.uj.edu.pl}} and since the 1600s, various Italian states issued fedi di sanità to exempt their bearers from quarantine.{{Cite web|url=http://www.passaporto-collezionismo-scripofilia.com/category/fedi-di-sanita/|title=Fedi' di Sanita Archivi|date=30 October 2023 }}

The International Certificate of Vaccination (Carte Jaune) is a certificate of vaccination and prophylaxis, not immunity. The document has remained largely unchanged since it was adopted by the International Sanitary Convention of 1944.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07A65AFNUlcC&pg=PA23|title=International Sanitary Convention of 1944, Modifying Convention of June 21, 1926: Message from the President of the United States Transmitting a Certified Copy of the International Sanitary Convention of 1944, Modifying the International Sanitary Convention of June 21, 1926, which was Signed for the United States of America at Washington on January 5, 1945|date=1945|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|language=en}} The certificate is most commonly associated with Yellow Fever, but it is also used to track vaccination against other illnesses.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

An immunity certificate is a legal document issued by a testing authority following a serology test demonstrating that the bearer has antibodies making them relatively immune to a disease.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

These antibodies can either be produced naturally by recovering from the disease, or triggered through vaccination or another medical procedure.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

Reliable immunity certificates can be used to exempt holders from quarantine and social distancing restrictions, permitting them to travel and work in most areas, including high-risk occupations such as medical care.

In the COVID-19 context, it has been argued that such certificates are of practical use to society only if all of the following conditions can be satisfied:{{cite journal | vauthors = Altmann DM, Douek DC, Boyton RJ | title = What policy makers need to know about COVID-19 protective immunity | journal = Lancet | volume = 395 | issue = 10236 | pages = 1527–1529 | date = May 2020 | pmid = 32353328 | pmc = 7185915 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30985-5 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Cyranoski D | title = Profile of a killer: the complex biology powering the coronavirus pandemic | journal = Nature | volume = 581 | issue = 7806 | pages = 22–26 | date = May 2020 | pmid = 32367025 | doi = 10.1038/d41586-020-01315-7 | bibcode = 2020Natur.581...22C | s2cid = 256823069 | doi-access = }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Hall MA, Studdert DM | title = Privileges and Immunity Certification During the COVID-19 Pandemic | journal = JAMA | volume = 323 | issue = 22 | pages = 2243–2244 | date = June 2020 | pmid = 32374358 | doi = 10.1001/jama.2020.7712 | s2cid = 218520529 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Hall MA, Studdert DM | title = "Vaccine Passport" Certification - Policy and Ethical Considerations | journal = The New England Journal of Medicine | date = March 2021 | volume = 385 | issue = 11 | pages = e32 | pmid = 33789006 | doi = 10.1056/NEJMp2104289 | doi-access = free }}

• Recovered or vaccinated patients have protective immunity that prevents them from being reinfected
• The protective immunity is long-lasting
• The pathogen mutates sufficiently slowly for immunity to work against most strains
• Immunity tests have low false-positive rates

However, some long-standing vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization, such as Meningococcal vaccine, are less than 100% effective and their protection is not everlasting.{{cite journal |vauthors=((World Health Organization)) |date=November 2011 |title=Meningococcal vaccines : WHO position paper, November 2011 |journal=Wkly. Epidemiol. Rec. |volume=86 |issue=47 |pages=521–540 |pmid=22128384 |hdl=10665/241846}}

File:EU Digital COVID Certificate - P051292-978859.jpg

{{Main|Vaccine passports during the COVID-19 pandemic}}In 2021, as COVID-19 vaccines became more publicly accessible, some governments began to authorize health credentials either as a document or in a digital form. These "vaccine passports" are used to control public access to indoor venues (like bars, restaurants, spas, and casinos) and very large gatherings (like concerts, festivals, and sporting events) and not just to facilitate travel. Depending upon the requirements of the issuing authority, an applicant would need to provide either proof of vaccination(s), a negative COVID-19 test, proof of a recovery from the virus, or some combination of these.{{Cite web|title=FAQ: What Is A Vaccine 'Passport,' And What Are These Credentials Used For?|url=https://knpr.org/npr/2021-04/faq-what-vaccine-passport-and-what-are-these-credentials-used|access-date=2021-10-09|website=Nevada Public Radio|language=en|archive-date=9 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009233609/https://knpr.org/npr/2021-04/faq-what-vaccine-passport-and-what-are-these-credentials-used|url-status=dead}} Their usage and implementation has been controversial and has raised various scientific, medical, ethical, legal, discrimination, privacy, civil rights, and human rights concerns.{{cite web | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-19-vaccine-passports-controversial/story?id=76928275 | title=What to know about COVID-19 vaccine 'passports' and why they're controversial | website=ABC News }}

• Electronic health record
• Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources
• Patient record access
• Vaccination requirements for international travel
• COVID-19 Vaccine Passport

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