Being vaxxed may reduce spread to some amount, though emerging evidence seems Omicron even less so. I could see an argument for vaccine passports if the vaccine was a highly sterilising vaccine, such as the smallpox vaccine. But it's not.
Which brings us to the crux of the issue, which is at what point is the vaccine worthwhile enough to both override individuals bodily autonomy and restrict their freedoms? Can anyone who feels positive about vaccine passports tell me where the line is? Vaccines as they are will not end covid, as in, cannot stop spread enough to force the virus to die out. So I'd would like to understand what the purpose of vaccine passports is? Just to slow down spread? And how much does the vaccine need to slow the spread in order for the cost (restricting freedoms and stripping individuals of bodily autonomy) to be worth it. If it prevented infection and transmission 10% of the time, would the cost be worth it? 20%? 50%? I'd really like to know what people think and if therefore my own opinion could be changed.
Secondly, if you're positive about vaccine passports, do you have any concern that this is a slippery slope? Are there other instances where bodily autonomy and personal freedom should be overridden for the greater societal good, with forced medical treatments? Could we force substance addicted woman to terminate pregnancies so as to put less pressure on social services? Could we force them to be sterilised if they don't get clean? Could we force adults with severe learning disabilities the same? After all they will need a lot of support and the NHS/social services are on their knees. What about forcing those who could have eye surgery instead of contact lenses to get the surgery in order to reduce the environmental impact of contact lenses? Should we force the very obese to have weight loss surgery if statistically doing so ends up putting less pressure on the NHS?
I realise the above are extreme examples that I'd imagine all, or I'd hope all, of us would think to be bad ideas. But I wonder if those for and against passports are sort of talking past each other. I think people worried about the passports are thinking about wider issues and what this kind of precedent could mean. It feels like a simple measure to help in a pandemic but really it's about really core human values - personal responsibility, bodily autonomy, freedom, choice, personal risk etc. We to varying degrees accept levels of government/state control (think prison/criminal punishment, mandatory schooling, driving licences, car insurance etc) but then we probably all have differing sense of where the line is and at what point personal liberty can be curtailed for greater societal good. For many of us, forced medications in order to take part in day to day life is a step too far, with huge potential ramifications, none of which seem positive. I'm really interested if those who think passports are good are thinking in those wider terms, of if the priority for them is more about a perception of trying to end the pandemic, no matter the cost?