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aim to contribute conceptual clarity to this debate by distinguishing
between empirical and normative arguments that are being employed
in opposition to this tool. We conclude by focusing on some normative
objections that, we will argue, need to be taken quite seriously before
we decide whether or not to adopt immunity licences as part of our
overall mix of policy responses to COVID-19.
Empirical Objections
The first set of empirical objections concerns the reliability of the sero-
logical tests currently available. Such tests would require a high level
of accuracy for their widespread use to be morally justifiable. If they
generate too many false positives, they will only serve to give false
assurance to people actually at risk of infection. Currently, we also
lack an evidence base that the presence of antibodies confers immu-
nity, and whether the immunity it might confer is long-lasting. Such
empirical uncertainty is at the basis of the World Health Organizationâs
current opposition to the use of such licences.4
The second set of empirical objections relates to possible per-
verse incentives that the use of immunity licences might generate. If
they were to become a condition of employment, travel, or access to
highly prized leisure or cultural activities, one could imagine a black
market of counterfeit licences emerging, or even people becoming so
desperate to acquire one that they voluntarily seek to infect them-
selves, with all of the attendant risks this would give rise to at the
individual and collective levels. Moreover, if immunity licences were
to acquire widespread currency, they could become a tool in the arse-
nal of states to police and impose surveillance on their citizenry, in a
manner that would, moreover, most likely target already marginal-
ized or racialized communities disproportionately.5
The third and final set of empirical objections relates to the reg-
ulatory challenges of ensuring fair access. Minimal fairness would
require that citizens have equitable access to serological tests and to
4. ââImmunity Passportsâ in the Context of COVID-19â (24 April 2020), online: WorldÂ
Health Organization <www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/immunity-
passports-in-the-context-of-covid-19>.
5. Françoise Baylis & Natalie Kofler, âWhy Canadians Should Fight Tooth and
Nail Against Proof-of-Immunity Cardsâ, CBC News Opinion (7 May 2020),
online: <www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-pandemic-coronavirus-immunity-
passport-1.5551528>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International