Vaccination rates are on the rise and several countries, including the United States, are relaxing public health restrictions as they steer toward a full reopening. Digital health certificates, or vaccine passports, are part of these efforts as a number of organizations are requiring proof of vaccination, including commercial airlines, employers, colleges and universities, and retail establishments. But while digital health certificates may facilitate a safer reopening and faster economic recovery, technological solutions to vaccine verification also raise valid concerns about the privacy of personal health data and their potential to exacerbate racial and socioeconomic inequities. If implemented without needed privacy protections, the vaccine passports could foreclose economic and social opportunities for those without immunization proof.
Vaccine passports underscore the necessity of U.S. privacy legislation (brookings.edu)
