to be alarmed by vaccine passports

[Loustew12]

Am I the only person who find the proposed extension of this alarming, given what's happening in Austria, where police are out checking the unvaccinated are hiding among the vaccinated? Gibraltar has 100% vaccination rate and cases are through the roof. So clearly being vaccinated doesn't 'stop the spread'. Therefore, there is no logical or justification for segregating society. It's surely a slippery slope to go down?

There are multiple lengthy threads about vaccine passes and Austria in the Coronavirus topic.
Some interesting insights into what is really happening in Austria from posters who live there. (Clue: it's not what the conspiracy theorists would have you believe)

YABU for posting this in AIBU rather than the dedicated Coronavirus topic.

Gibraltar is a very small space with lots of people living within it, plus visitors. Austria has cities, sure, but also lots of countryside with lose population densities. You can’t compare the two.

The science is saying vaccinated people are less likely to transmit. It makes sense, I guess, to limit those unvaccinated by choice coming into contact with everyone else?

I'm worried about this too. FWIW I'm fully vaccinnated. I just don't know what the answer is.

As far as I can see, Gibraltar had 55 cases yesterday. They've had a total of 6,683 since the whole thing started.

Is that how we're defining "through the roof" now?

Having been to France recently where they have vaccine passports personally I don’t have an issue with it.

Of all the possible restrictions which could potentially be introduced that’s the one that worries me least!

Yes, you are the only person in the world. There are not multiple threads about this or anything.

I've just looked at the figures for Gibraltar. Cases X % of population is high, sure.
But it's the equivalent of one town in the UK having quirky numbers. It's a tiny place.
As it's a UKDT, is the vaccine booster rollout governed by London? When did the residents receive their second dose? Are there any other mitigations in place?

Having the vaccine reduces the chance of hospitalisation and serious illness.

So does not being fat.

One makes money for pharmaceutical and health industries.

One doesn’t. One also has long term additional benefits for the NHS.

Amazing that only one method is being promoted.

If, instead of vaccine passports, we had BMI passports there would be an outcry. And before someone points out BMI measurements aren’t perfect measurements of fitness, I would point out that vaccination status is not a perfect measure of either immunity or contagious status.

Yes it's a slippery slope more focused on control imo.

If vaccine passports are the new norm it's only a matter of time before the vaccine passport becomes a more generalised freedom passport which could have all kinds of other data or conditions linked to it.

@worldgonecrazy you've hit the nail on the head.

And how many of you are aware of the regular street protests of many, many thousands of people, in countries across Europe, against the vaccine passports there? Both vaxxed and unvaxxed. The media here is completely silent about them.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58973334

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58913865

www.france24.com/en/europe/20210911-turnout-down-slightly-for-french-protests-against-covid-19-health-pass

@fungussingstheblues

You're quite right. The MSM are totally silent about the protests. You're the only person to have noticed.

@SamosaSammy

Yes it's a slippery slope more focused on control imo.

If vaccine passports are the new norm it's only a matter of time before the vaccine passport becomes a more generalised freedom passport which could have all kinds of other data or conditions linked to it.

What kind of data? A (literal) one minute search of your username tells me: Your vaccine status (no surprises there) Your children's ages Your pet Your job, your partner's and your annual income The jobs you've done in the past Your political leanings How you feel about Home Ed. Your clothing preferences

Tbf, you're not exactly that concerned about privacy.

@SamosaSammy

Yes it's a slippery slope more focused on control imo.

If vaccine passports are the new norm it's only a matter of time before the vaccine passport becomes a more generalised freedom passport which could have all kinds of other data or conditions linked to it.

This 100%.

If you can restrict someone's movements, and even their right to work based in a hypothetical risk they may be slightly more likely to transmit a virus than the next, vaccinated person, how much easier is it to justify restricting their behaviour based on almost anything really. Consumer purchases (what and how much you buy and where you buy it from), which trains you can travel on, where you can catch an uber, what venues you visit. Your phone app will tell everyone what you're allowed to do. Buy cigarettes, only for registered smokers, 1 pack a fortnight; alcohol, not for people with a history of alcohol issues, and only certain units; junk food, nope, not you fatty; even groceries could be rationed to limit panic buying and hoarding.
Once the infrastructure is there it seems stupid not to use it.

PAFMO, the BBC link is a 404 error and the French one is from September... the extent and frequency of the protests are not being reported honestly. ("Turnout down"; I mean, come on!)

@Worldgonecrazy

Having the vaccine reduces the chance of hospitalisation and serious illness.

So does not being fat.

One makes money for pharmaceutical and health industries.

One doesn’t. One also has long term additional benefits for the NHS.

Amazing that only one method is being promoted.

If, instead of vaccine passports, we had BMI passports there would be an outcry. And before someone points out BMI measurements aren’t perfect measurements of fitness, I would point out that vaccination status is not a perfect measure of either immunity or contagious status.

That makes no sense. You can't catch fat from someone else.

Personally I'm all for them.

@fungussingstheblues

PAFMO, the BBC link is a 404 error and the French one is from September... the extent and frequency of the protests are not being reported honestly. ("Turnout down"; I mean, come on!)

I managed to read the BBC link. I admit they were the first 3 hits on Google but the protests are being reported.

We have to be vaccinated to do anything much other than walk down the street here. After what we went through in the spring of 2020, anything and everything is worth a try.

I find it difficult to understand why someone who has a mobile phone is too worried about privacy. Or is that different because its private companies gathering your data and not the state?

@Worldgonecrazy

Having the vaccine reduces the chance of hospitalisation and serious illness.

So does not being fat.

One makes money for pharmaceutical and health industries.

One doesn’t. One also has long term additional benefits for the NHS.

Amazing that only one method is being promoted.

If, instead of vaccine passports, we had BMI passports there would be an outcry. And before someone points out BMI measurements aren’t perfect measurements of fitness, I would point out that vaccination status is not a perfect measure of either immunity or contagious status.

Its a little easier to get vaccine than to lose weight though isn't it??

If you Google Covid Protests Europe there are literally thousands of MSM reports.
Including the fact that in Italy, the protests are mainly orchestrated by the far right whose political movement's leaders have been arrested as a result.

@gamerchick you can't catch fat from someone, no, but if you're over 30 you're more likely to catch and transmit Covid if you are vaccinated - so what's the point of the passports? To encourage a greater uptake of the vaccine that will make you more likely to catch and transmit Covid if you're over 30?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports

I posted on the other thread about Austria - I live here. Your understanding of what’s happening has nothing to do with the reality of the situation.

I'm not particularly comfortable with it.

However the amount of misinformation I see regarding the vaccines makes me more unhappy. And that too many people are falling for the lies.

They are putting our healthcare system at risk, and their actions may mean that the rest of us may need to face restrictions again.

I don't feel that vaccine passports are the way to go but I don't know how you show many people that they are falling for lies.

Vaccines may not Covid spreading by as much as we had initially hoped, but they do a bloody brilliant job at reducing hopsitilations / deaths.

I agree, extremely worrying, how these measures will impact on people’s lives in the years to come.

@pafmo and where she lives city