The vaccine passport has reached its expiry date

We remember those advertisements in which a soccer player or a single woman at the door of a bar crashed against the invisible wall of the vaccine passport.

However, it now seems that it is the passport itself that is hitting a wall.

If media leaks are to be believed, Public Health will recommend a gradual suspension of the vaccine passport. The last businesses affected (SAQ, SQDC and big box stores) would be the first to see it jump.

Is this a setback? Proof that this measure was misguided? Of an abdication before those who block bridges and paralyze cities?

No.

It is simply an evolution in the fight against a virus which itself has evolved a lot over its mutations.

After two years of pandemic, both Quebec and Ottawa are doing their spring cleaning. We re-examine the sanitary measures and we wonder what we keep, what we throw away and why.

Such an exercise is necessary. And it is normal that the vaccine passport is part of it.

The authorities have not always been clear about the purpose of the vaccine passport, but four can be listed.

1. Prevent outbreaks in certain public places.
2. Protecting the unvaccinated… and the hospital network by the same token.
3. Encourage the unvaccinated to roll up their sleeves.
4. Offer a “reward” to the vaccinated.

Let’s see where we are.

In the days of the Delta variant, two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine provided nearly 90% protection against infection. Last fall, if you were in a bar, a restaurant or a gym, you could therefore consider that almost all of the customers were not carriers of the virus thanks to the QR code required at the entrance.

Although it is difficult to isolate the effects of the vaccine passport and therefore to prove its effectiveness, a decrease in super-spreading events was observed at the time.

It is true that the employees of the places where the vaccine passport is required have never had to be vaccinated, which can undermine the confidence of the vaccinated who use it. The fact remains that we then had a logical basis allowing us to think that this tool reduced the risks.

Today ? It’s much less clear. While vaccination offers crucial protection against hospitalizations due to Omicron, it is less effective against infections (just 33%).

The third dose increases this protection, but it is impossible to extend the vaccine passport to three doses for several months: millions of Quebecers have contracted COVID-19 since Christmas and Quebec recommends that they wait between 8 and 12 weeks for their booster dose.

In fact, without a vaccination passport, it is the non-vaccinated who would find themselves most at risk of frequenting public places. In the age of individual accountability, they are urged to exercise extreme caution.

The incentive to vaccinate? Here again, it is difficult to demonstrate beyond any doubt the effectiveness of the vaccine passport. However, we know that the vaccination of young people, in particular, accelerated in several regions of Quebec when it was introduced.

For the first and second doses, one can think that the vaccine passport delivered what it had to deliver. It could be a powerful tool to encourage Quebecers to get their booster shot. But again, it is impossible to expand the three-dose passport for several months.

As for the famous “reward” for the vaccinated, one can argue that it has already been given. Especially since, since the extension of the vaccine passport, a good number of vaccinated people are complaining about the queues that stretch out in front of the shops.

We may feel uncomfortable suspending the vaccination passport at the very moment when wild demonstrations are calling for its abolition. But if we must not yield anything to the demonstrators, they cannot prevent us from thinking either. Sticking to the status quo just so as not to seem to agree with them would be counterproductive.

The vaccine passport has certainly delivered benefits in Quebec. It’s time to gradually move on, while keeping this tool in our sleeve in case it becomes useful again.