Would citizens prefer having their ID checked every time they enter an important public place or have these important public places closed off to the public? This question centers around the need for vaccination identification and why it is as important to have it now along with your IDs and passports.
Why do passports themselves exist? They exist to document proper citizenship and allow for citizens to visit other countries. The purpose of them is to promote safety, and likewise, a vaccine passport is purely meant to accommodate reopening business, keeping it safe and regulated. They have been an uncontroversial piece of documentation for centuries, so why is this scenario with required vaccination IDs different than that of a normal passport?
Most of America’s belief in identification with COVID-19 vaccination cards is a political issue with left-leaning parties supporting them to be a requirement for entry into venues, travel and sporting events. Other parties, however, have ethical concerns regarding their civil rights and beliefs. These “anti-vaxers” believe there are issues with “an unequal health care system, limited vaccine access, and class-driven technological disparities,” Jacob Silverman writes in The New Republic. This concern regards ethical issues in which the upper class can take advantage of the lower class and have greater access to events and benefits that come with having a vaccination I.D. The clear hole in this argument is that the accessibility of getting vaccinated is not an issue, and a limited amount of vaccines will never happen even if we eradicate COVID-19.
I can speak from firsthand experience; from watching my friends and family sign up for the vaccine, the process is simple and requires no cost or insurance.
Scientists created the vaccine as a service to everyone; it is a public good that has no barriers whatsoever. A small proportion of the population cannot receive vaccinations due to health reasons; however, so few people fall into this category, and as long as everyone else is vaccinated or immune, our country would qualify for herd immunity.
What is stopping our country from attaining herd immunity are those who refuse to get the vaccine for coronavirus because of their personal issues with it, which cannot be rebutted because that is ultimately a subjective opinion. Still, to prevent businesses and society from getting back to normal, the argument of not trusting the vaccine isn’t relevant when there are mountains of evidence appraising the safety of all three available vaccines for COVID-19.
The issues citizens had with the coronavirus vaccine requirements require a closer look at our vaccine process. However, from an outside perspective, the positives seem to outweigh the negatives. Businesses such as cruise lines, airlines and entertainment venues are eager to support these regulations because they can increase their allowed number of people, which only benefits those people and the businesses. Likewise, people have expressed their unhappiness with quarantine and social distancing, understandably, and with inoculations, all of these restrictions ease themselves, and our society is one step closer to normalcy.
To achieve this normalcy our society desires, citizens would need to keep a slip of paper on them when traveling and going to movie theatres, concerts, restaurants and other reserved venues. This takes the same amount of time and energy as bringing your driver’s license, credit cards and house keys everywhere you go. Also, it’s possible that the vaccine passport will become digital on your smartphone for those who have them.
Finally, a vaccine card isn’t infringing on anyone’s civil liberties; it is meant to keep everyone at ease and comfortable with socializing and living life to the fullest. Those who quarantined strictly will now be able to return to society comfortably, and with more citizens, workers and consumers back in society, our society grows. I would give anything to be able to practice martial arts, fight in tournaments and teach students, but I know without herd immunity or total vaccination I won’t be able to. We all need to get vaccinated and make smart decisions.
Leslie Keiser • May 3, 2021 at 12:20 pm
What a well-thought out article, Leon. Thanks.
Sra. Keiser