Do covid passports matter when US and UK people are among ‘most-watched’ countries in the world?

Greg Abbott has banned publicly-funded agencies from forcing people to provide proof of a Covid-19 vaccine if they need their services.

In other words Abbott has gone a long way down the line to ban the ubiquitous Covid passport.

He did this as the so-called passports are being developed across the world as a method of quickly proving someone’s vaccination status.

But Britain too could back off from the passport plan. Ministers’ plans are in doubt after Labour indicated that it would oppose “discriminatory” proposals and Conservative MPs claimed the plan would create a “two-tier” Britain.

Jon Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said his party would “have to be convinced” to back the measures and warned that they could be unfair.

The government says there will be places where Covid passports will never be required – including essential shops, public services, and public transport.

It has also said there will be exemptions for some people “for whom vaccination is not advised and repeat testing is difficult”.

Nevertheless, proposals for vaccine passports have been criticised as “dangerous, discriminatory and counterproductive” by dozens of MPs. Senior Tory backbencher Mark Harper has called for a vote on the issue.

But it is interesting to note that the population of Britain is one of the most closely watched in the world . The British Security Industry Association estimates that the total number of CCTV cameras in the UK stands at somewhere between 4 million and 6 million. That’s around 7.5 cameras for every 100 people in the country.

We are in fact the third-highest ‘watched’ people on the planet just behind the US and China. And then of course there is social media Big Data.

So, do Covid passports really matter?

But in America it has turned into a massive debate with Republicans opposing passports, claiming it is an infringement of freedom and privacy.

Supporters, say the passports are a way to confidently go back to activities we took for granted.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis also stopped state agencies from using vaccine passports and said no business can require their customers to display them.

Businesses can tell their employees to get a Covid-19 vaccine, according to guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Most plans for vaccine passports are looking at a smartphone app, although some are in a paper form and are seen as a way to ensure Covid free spaces at concerts, restaurants and sporting events.

New York was the first state to unveil its Excelsior Pass — which can be used to quickly show proof of a vaccination or a negative test.

Israel, which has fully vaccinated over half of its population, also introduced a vaccine passport for anyone in the country. Vaccine passports are being developed all over the European Union.

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