Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
nationalpost.com
Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
1–10 of 33 posts
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#2Title's too long to post, original title is: Opinion: Why vaccine passports won't slow COVID spread, will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#3If vaccines are accessible to poor people (free or subsidised), how would vaccine passports hurt them?
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#4If vaccines are accessible to poor people (free or subsidised), how would vaccine passports hurt them?
I imagine any fees/fines/consequences for not having a vaccine passport will be relatively more of a burden for the poor to bear. This same argument has been made for/against requiring voter id laws in the US.
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#5If vaccines are accessible to poor people (free or subsidised), how would vaccine passports hurt them?
This question is answered in the article:
> Those who are fully vaccinated may be amongst those denied access if they do not have a printer or mobile device, or if they have forgotten their documentation at home. This will especially impact the poor, those who are homeless, those with developmental delays or those who suffer from cognitive impairment.
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#6If vaccines are accessible to poor people (free or subsidised), how would vaccine passports hurt them?
The cost in vaccines isn't just in getting them. One has to take off work (twice) to get them, have transportation to get them, and be able to handle being potentially stuck in bed for 1-2 days after the second vaccine. I believe the last is probably leading to the most vaccine hesitancy. If I don't have sick leave, worry that I will get fired if I call in and/or have to take care of small children, I will probably keep putting off getting the vaccine hoping to find some more convenient time. Yes, of course, it will be worse if they get covid, but I doubt the calculation is: "I will never get the vaccine and hope I don't get covid". I suspect it is more "I will get the vaccine as soon as I get a chance to have two free days to schedule it"
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#7If vaccines are accessible to poor people (free or subsidised), how would vaccine passports hurt them?
This question is answered in the article: > Those who are fully vaccinated may be amongst those denied access if they do not have a printer or mobile device, or if they have forgotten their documentation at home. This will especially impact the poor, those who are homeless, those with developmental delays or those who suffer from cognitive impairment.
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Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#8If vaccines are accessible to poor people (free or subsidised), how would vaccine passports hurt them?
If vaccines are accessible to poor people leading to more vacinnated populus, why are vaccine passports needed?
I'm not anti-vax but I don't understand why people think vaccines are going to solve everything, isn't covid here to stay? why make it another control measure?
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#9I think this is a pretty reasonable article, particularly the section on unintended consequences of these policies.
In a bureaucracy, policies are designed around fixing what is measured. If the only thing that is focused on is COVID-19 cases rather than general health, far more overall harm might be imposed on the public health from the vaccine passports.
> One of the most important risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness is obesity. Many people rely on gyms, especially during the winter months, to access physical activity and maintain their ideal body weight. Those who live in apartment dwellings may not have access to green spaces for exercise. Thus, by barring access to gyms, we are restricting physical activity, which in turn contributes to increasing rates of obesity and greater risk for severe disease.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who tends to gain more than a few pounds during winter. What do you think is going to happen when you impose significant barriers to a large number of people from working out? Many people are going to stop working out and gain far more weight. Not only does this have a significant impact on COVID outcomes, but also heart-disease and other health conditions.
Humans are pleasure-seeking creatures. What do you think will happen when you block them from going out peacefully anywhere fun for the winter? Winters in cities are already miserable experiences. People are going to turn to things that are accessible to them for pleasure: maybe drugs, alcohol, risky sexual and other behaviors, stuffing their faces with sugary food, etc.
The unintended consequences of vaccine mandates may lead to dramatically worse overall health outcome on a population level.
Re: Vaccine passports will hurt the poor and threaten medical ethics
#10Does this reflect genuine concern for the poor, or is it a bad faith tactic to try to shoot down a policy for other (perhaps unstated) reasons or priorities? Because I've seen a lot of the latter lately.
Especially with something like vaccine passports, any special issue the poor disproportionally experience is probably better dealt with through some kind of mitigation (e.g. make vaccines free, arrange free transportation or mobile clinics, mandate paid recovery days) than by scrapping the idea entirely. It's stupid to let a small issue prevent a bigger issue from getting addressed.