U.K Easing Covid Lockdown Possibly With Vaccine Passport 

Britain has been in a three month lockdown because of the high numbers of cases across Europe. Britain has recorded around 127,000 COVID-19 related deaths, making Britain hold the highest death toll in Europe. Thankfully it’s vaccine roll out plan has decreased Coronavirus deaths immensely. Around thirty one million people have received their first dose of the vaccine. The vaccine is showing promising results and the hope that normalcy will return soon.

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister stated on April 5th that a reopening plan will be implemented determining that everywhere from, “ barbers to bookstores” will be able to open the following week. On April 12th the Prime Minister stated that hairdressers, beauty salons , gyms, nonessential business, bars and restaurant dining will have the option to reopen. There was a ban in England on overnight stays away from one's home, this will also be lifted on the 12th.  

Boris Johnson stated that he is still unsure if the U.K will be able to travel abroad this summer and is looking into the possibility of some sort of  “Vaccine Passport.” This would provide proof that a person was vaccinated and has protection against  COVID-19. They are testing a protocol that would impact people who are looking to travel or attend large venues. They would have to provide information on if they have received the vaccine, have recently tested negative, or have recently contracted COVID-19 but have recovered proving that that person will have immunity from the virus. The debate surrounding many controversies at the moment is how much information the government and business are allowed to know about your vaccine and virus status. This can fall under HIPPA violations. What is in question is how much blowback the government will face if the vaccine passport plan is carried out. Graham Brady, a Conservative legislator, stated that this plan will be, “intrusive, costly and unnecessary.” The government followed this by stating that vaccine passports are “unavoidable”. The Prime Minister chimed in by stating that these passports create, “complicated ethical and practical issues”. He enforced that the passports won’t be imminent.

Currently, Britons are banned by law from going on vacation abroad. The government announced on April 5th that there is no possibility of easing the restriction until May 17th at the earliest.

Britain has already created a plan for when traveling does start. Britain will rank people on a green, yellow, or red scale depending on what countries they are from. This scale is dependent on the level of vaccinations, new variants based on their location, and level of infections. Everyone traveling will have to be tested upon their departure and their arrival, but their time spent quarantining will be dependent on their red green or yellow code. For example, people from green countries will not have to quarantine, while people from red countries will have to quarantine for much longer then people from yellow countries.

It is clear to see that Britain has plans to reopen. The number of cases have decreased since the vaccine roll out providing hope to business, employers, and policy makers. Traveling outside of Europe could pose many debates about the ethicality of the vaccine passports and traffic light labels placed on travelers.

Links-

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-04-05/uk-eyes-mass-testing-as-it-takes-next-steps-out-of-lockdown

https://www.hipaajournal.com/common-hipaa-violations/