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Immunity Passport: UK’s Planned Measure to Limit Freedom

bojo, pasaporte inmunidad,

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For the British government, some will be freer than others. Boris Johnson’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, told LBC radio that the government is considering a national plan to “allow greater freedoms” to those who can prove they have been vaccinated. The proposal in question is the immunity passport.

During the interview, the program host asked Raab whether or not there would be a need for a domestic immunity passport that would have to be presented to enter a supermarket. Raab replied that the government has not ruled out implementing this radical measure. “We are considering it, but we have to make it work.”

“I’m not sure there is a foolproof answer in the way it is sometimes presented, but of course we will look at all options,” Raab added.

The questioning followed statements by Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi. The minister announced that the government will definitely not mandate the coronavirus vaccine and has no plans to introduce immunity passports or impose restrictions on those who do not get it.

“I think forcing vaccines is discriminatory and completely wrong…and I would urge companies listening to this debate today not to even think about it,” Zahawi commented.

The civil rights organization Big Brother Watch had opposed such a move. “We will not accept immunity passports, freedom passes, health certificates, or any mandatory health labels.” “We will not accept health apartheid,” they denounced. This was two weeks earlier, when Zahawi himself had a favorable opinion about these passports.

“We have absolutely no plans for the vaccine passport,” the minister clarified. The inter-ministerial inconsistency reveals that Zahawi was either lying or did not get the notification that the Johnson government is indeed planning to implement the immunity passport. Yet, not many other details of the proposal are known.

A senior government source also revealed to The Telegraph that the government has been “very wary of the idea that if you don’t have a passport, your freedoms are restricted.” The source, who was wary of the immunity passport proposal, added that “as Conservatives, we should be instinctively concerned about that.”

Global immunity passport, says Labour’s Tony Blair

For his part, former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, accompanied by the world’s big tech institutions, such as Bill Gates’ Microsoft and institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation, is proposing a more radical measure.

The group calls itself the Vaccine Credential Initiative (VCI) and includes Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle.

Blair propone un pasaporte de inmunidad mundial. Es respaldado por la Rockefeller Foundation y la propuesta está siendo trabajada por Microsoft y por el Foro Económico Mundial. (Flickr)
Blair is proposing a global immunity passport. It is backed by the Rockefeller Foundation and the proposal is being worked on by Microsoft and the World Economic Forum. (Flickr)

“With my team at the Institute for Global Change,” Blair commented,” “I have looked at this from all angles and come to this conclusion: there is no prospect of returning to anything resembling normality without allowing people to show their COVID status, either by showing that they have been vaccinated or that they have recently passed a test.”

In a recent article for the Daily Mail, Blair urged that “we should plan for an “agreed passport” now. The arguments against it really don’t add up.” “The world is moving in this direction,” Blair added.

“Call it a passport, certificate or proof of status; we’ll want to know,” Blair noted.

Blair fails to admit that such a move will essentially increase the power of governments and surveillance for both citizens and non-citizens. “It’s about improving confidence levels to go back to the workplace, traveling by public transport, joining events with large crowds. Above all, seeing loved ones, especially those who may be among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.”

Rafael Valera, Venezuelan, student of Political Science, political exile in São Paulo, Brazil since 2017 // Rafael Valera, venezolano, es estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y exiliado político en São Paulo, Brasil desde 2017

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