Science-based Statement in Opposition of Vaccine Passports Submitted in 2021 Still Holds True Today
It is the simple arrogance of humans to think they can control a submicroscopic particle that is spread in the air. It's like trying to rope the wind.
I submitted this statement on September 1, 2021 in opposition of Hawaiʻi Resolution # 21-194 meant to urge the city administration and the state of Hawai'i to implement a COVID-19 health card for establishments at higher risk of transmission of COVID-19.
At the Committee’s meeting on September 2, 2021, with testimony received remotely, two persons testified in support of, 97 persons testified in opposition to, and 17 persons offered comments on, the Resolution.
The Committee also received written testimony from 67 persons in support of, and over 8,000 persons in opposition to the Resolution, while 42 persons offered comments on Resolution 21-194.
Here is the statement I submitted as testimony:
Five reasons vaccine/immunity passports should not be established
As a virologist and subject matter expert on respiratory viruses, the institution of immunity/vaccine passports is scientifically meaningless. Along with the authors of this insightful article printed in Nature, a top tier scientific journal, “Ten reasons why immunity passports are a bad idea” I agree that “instituting something that limits freedoms based on biology risks becoming a platform for restricting human rights, increasing discrimination and threatening — rather than protecting — public health.”
The following is a list of at least 5 reasons why a vaccine passport program should not be established.
1. There are no FDA-licensed (approved) vaccines to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Since these vaccines are Emergency Use Authorized they cannot be made compulsory (mandatory).
“In the same vein, when Dr. Amanda Cohn, the executive secretary of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, was asked if Covid-19 vaccination can be required, she responded that under an EUA, “vaccines are not allowed to be mandatory. So, early in this vaccination phase, individuals will have to be consented and they won’t be able to be mandatory.” Cohn later affirmed that this prohibition on requiring the vaccines applies to organizations, including hospitals.”
https://www.fda.gov/media/142749/download
2. What about those who already had actual COVID-19?
We know that those who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and developed disease will have immunity and therefore it is medically irrelevant to vaccinate them.
(https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6529/eabf4063, https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/lasting-immunity-found-after-recovery-covid-19)
There is also a big difference between total antibodies and neutralizing antibodies. Neutralizing antibodies are those antibodies which specifically bind to the virus and prevent infection. While we don’t yet know the correlates of protection meaning what titer of antibodies is considered protective or if cell-mediated immunity is the measure of protection, we know that with SARS antibodies maxed out 3 to 4 weeks after infection and declined to undetectable by 6 years. With MERS another coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV-2, neutralizing antibodies remained at 3 years after infection.
If for some reason a person who had COVID-19 would like to receive the vaccine, while vaccine supply remains limited, people with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection should temporarily delay vaccination. In addition, if a person with COVID-19 received antibody therapy or convalescent plasma as part of treatment vaccination should be deferred for 90 days. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html
3. What about those who cannot receive the vaccine?
Those who have had an allergic reaction after a dose of COVID-19 vaccine or those who have an allergic reaction to any component of the vaccine are not able to receive a second dose of the vaccine.
The number of adverse events and deaths being reported after vaccination continues to climb with over 260,000 and over 2,300 deaths after vaccination to date in the U.S. alone (https://www.openvaers.com/covid-data). People need to be able to make an informed decision that will be the best for themselves and their family without feeling coerced.
There is limited safety data for vaccination of people who have weakened immune systems due to HIV infection of autoimmune conditions and those individuals must consult with a physician for recommendations on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Finally, the vaccine is not authorized for use in adolescents (16 years and younger). Marginalized groups and those without access will face increased scrutiny at a time when racial tensions are at an all-time high in the U.S. Instituting a vaccine passport policy be discriminatory for those populations for which vaccination is contraindicated.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html
4. The vaccine does not prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2.
The CDC states that “Vaccinated people could potentially still get COVID-19 and spread it to others.” Dr. Fauci also stated that people who have been vaccinated should continue to follow recommendations and guidance for preventing infection even after vaccination because ‘breakthrough’ infections are expected.
There has been story after story of those having gotten vaccinated and still getting symptomatic COVID-19. In Hawaiʻi we now have reports of 94 cases of people testing positive for COVID-19 with 40 cases in people at least two weeks after their second dose of vaccine to date with over half of those being symptomatic. There are many similar reports from other states such as Washington, Oregon, Michigan, and California to name a few. The best we can hope for with the COVID-19 vaccines is decrease in the length and severity of the disease.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2101927
5. What are the continued Public Health consequences?
Over the last year we have seen the devastating effects of implementation of stay-at-home orders, school closures and physical distancing.
The health benefits of social distancing measures are obvious, with a slower spread of infection reducing the risk that health services will be overwhelmed. But they may also prolong the pandemic and the restrictions adopted to mitigate it. The economic impacts have been far reaching with business closures and income loss for workers. Those in the lower economic bracket have been the hardest with the poor becoming poorer. With school closures there has been an increase in suicide and depression among youth.
Not to mention again the social stratification has led to many children without access to any form of education in addition to access to healthy food and support services.
Source: https://news.yale.edu/2021/01/05/covid-school-closures-most-harm-students-poorest-neighborhoods
These are just few examples of the broader public health impact the mitigation efforts have had on communities. Institution of a vaccine/immunity passport would further widen the divide of health disparities and impact those already hardest hit by mitigation efforts. Institution of vaccine passports would further limit an individual’s access to meaningful work, insurance, hospitality and leisure, and other parts of life. Policy makers need to balance these considerations while paying attention to broader effects on health and health equity.
As time has passed, an insurmountable body of evidence has accumulated to support all the points that I had made in this statement.
Resolution 21-194 was adopted anyway
Resolution 21-194 was adopted by the Transportation, Sustainability and Heath committee with 3 in favor and one opposed.
The “Safe Access Oʻahu” program was implemented in September 2021. Starting September 13, 2021 the Safe Access Oʻahu program required patrons and employees to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter a restaurant, gym, bar, movie theater or other Oʻahu business. The program was to remain in effect for 60 days.
The program didn’t end until March 2022.
As COVID case counts and hospitalizations decrease, Mayor Blangiardi confirmed that Safe Access Oahu will expire after 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 5, and there will be no further COVID restrictions for the city.
How did the restrictions work out?
With over 65% of the population “fully vaccinated,” Hawaiʻi reported the highest death toll in one month since the pandemic began. From September 1 to September 30, the state reported 193 fatalities.
Quite interestingly, the first booster doses of the genetic vaccines began to be administered August 1, 2021. Even with the “vaccine,” mandates and restrictions, cases surged into the thousands with a single day record number of 3,500 COVID-19 cases on December 30, 2021.
The data is clear! And those of us who spoke out against the policy were right all along.