IN January, while the world was still in shock from the rising number of daily Covid deaths, and just after the first vaccine rollout, the concept of a vaccine passport was introduced.

Since then, governments of nations have caught on to the concept. Many questions arise, including one of possible orchestration.

A vaccine passport is not an immunity passport. Rather it is a digitalised or printed certification that a person has been vaccinated to facilitate travel.

Although it can be argued that an attempt to control travel with such a passport is legally suspect, it is a very effective tool against vaccine hesitancy. Such coercion is necessary if herd immunity is to be achieved.   

However, herd immunity, or indirect protection from infectious disease, can be achieved not only through vaccination, but also through natural immunity developed from previous infection. The World Health Organisation estimated in October that at least 10% of the world’s population had been infected with Covid-19. By April, the figure could quadruple, based on the estimate of one person infecting three.

A study by Phipps and colleagues, published in November by The Royal Society, estimated that in their sample of 15 countries, the actual infective rate of Covid-19 was 6.2 times greater than the reported number of cases.

The website ourworldindata.org has shown a consistent declining infective rate from January to April in most countries, including Malaysia. It also shows that 99.6% of those infected recover from the disease.

These factors make a compelling argument for letting the pandemic run its natural course as an additional strategy against Covid-19, in contrast to the fixated and dogma-like vaccine passport concept that adheres to using vaccines as the sole strategy. There are other arguments, including the recent postulations of vaccinologist Dr Geert Vanden Bossche, who cautioned WHO and scientists regarding “immune escape”. Space limitation here does not allow for elaboration.

When the concept of vaccine passport was first introduced, the people of the world were mentally herded to accept it without question out of fear and hope for immunity. Soon it became clear from the clinical trial results of the various Covid shots that the vaccines were efficacious in reducing severity of symptoms, hospitalisation and death.

There was no claim of immunity and rightfully so because the clinical trials showed there were some who became infected days after the second dose. There was also no claim that those vaccinated would not spread the virus to others.

Hence we have a situation where the vaccinated do not get immunity while the unvaccinated has a high chance of recovering and developing antibodies after infections. This alone is enough to get people to think and to hesitate about getting the shot.

The issue of a vaccine passport is fraught with challenges other than non-immunity. Politics and economics are involved in this whole business.

Biased governments will insist inbound travellers be inoculated with their vaccine of choice. Consensus on the digital certificate standard is quite impossible if governments do not cooperate. There is also personal data protection to consider.

The WHO is against the concept of vaccine passport for the following reasons: the uncertainty of how long a person gets protected after vaccination; vaccine production cannot meet world demand for the next two years; and unequal vaccine access for travellers from poorer nations.

The idea of a vaccine passport is not new. While many believe its genesis to be in the Covid-19 pandemic, the idea was conceptualised in 2018 by the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, wherein eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical exporting countries reside.

The proposal for a vaccination card/passport was first published by the European Commission in April 2018. It was followed by a roadmap document issued in 2019 that set out specific plans to implement the  proposal.    

Unreported by mainstream media, the Global Vaccination Summit was organised and hosted by the European Commission in Brussels on 12 September 2019, just three months before the coronavirus outbreak and a month before the Coronavirus Outbreak Simulation Exercise (known as Event 201).

At the summit the message of an inevitable global pandemic was emphasised. So was a vaccination card/passport mentioned. Far too many coincidences and intrigues indeed.

Politicians should ponder over who will benefit from the implementation of the vaccine passport.

They are warned that their quest for herd immunity via vaccine coercion could indeed be a case of herd mentality.  – April 8, 2021.

* Captain Dr Wong Ang Peng is a researcher with an interest in economics, politics, and health issues. He has a burning desire to do anything within his means to promote national harmony. Captain Wong is also a member of the National Patriots Association.