Issuing immunity certification could foster ‘an erroneous sense of no risk’ in people’s behaviour, according to analysts
Sarah Boseley
Covid-status certificates – to allow those who have been vaccinated, recovered from the virus or have tested negative to attend an event or holiday abroad – could do harm as well as good, UK government science advisers have warned.
While they could encourage some people to get vaccinated, the scientists say others may deliberately go out to get infected, in order to test positive for antibodies and get a certificate enabling them to mix more freely.
They say certificates, like vaccine passports, may also encourage people to behave as though they are no longer at risk, discarding masks and ignoring social distancing.
The paper, which has not yet been peer reviewed, was written by a group of eight psychologists and behavioural scientists, all but one of whom take part in the government advisory body on the pandemic known as Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B).
Their paper reviews the studies so far carried out of people’s attitudes and likely behaviours if immunity certificates are adopted.
“Allowing people to return to work, meet socially, and fulfil care obligations brings many social, emotional and economic benefits,” write John Drury, social psychology professor at the University of Sussex, and his colleagues.
“Indeed, it might be considered unethical to restrict the movements of those who pose minimal risk to others. Depending on how it is applied, health certification could also encourage vaccination uptake. It also has the potential for harm.
What are Covid-status certificates and how might they work?
“One concern from a behavioural perspective is that certification may foster an erroneous sense of no risk – both in those with and those without certificates –resulting in behaviours that increase risk of infection or transmission.
“In addition, immunity certification based on a test-positive result for antibodies could have a paradoxical effect on health protective behaviours whereby people deliberately seek infection in order to acquire a certificate.”
Health status certificates are not a new idea, they point out. In the 15th century, printed health passes were used to allow trade and travel during the plague in Europe. They certified only that the bearer had come from a plague-free city.
In the current pandemic, Israel has already introduced a “green pass” app to allow those who are vaccinated to go to concerts and the theatre, while the EU has announced a scheme to allow those who have had Covid-19 or been vaccinated to travel between member states.
The potential benefits of certificates, such as enabling people to go to events and travel more freely and safely, need to be considered in the context of their potential for harm, say the authors, “but the nature and scale of these remains uncertain. Also uncertain is how any harms might most effectively be mitigated.”
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Regeneron says antibody therapy prevents COVID-19 infections
Good news on the coronavirus therapeutics front: Regeneron says its antibody cocktail prevents symptomatic COVID-19.
While much of the attention has been focused on vaccines, experts say therapeutic treatments are just as important to ending the pandemic, which has killed more than 562,000 Americans. To that end, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said it is planning to ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow its antibody cocktail to be used as a preventive treatment for COVID-19.
New results from a clinical trial conducted with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found the drug reduced the risk of symptomatic infection by 81 percent in people who were not infected at the start of the trial, Regeneron said.
Details: The trial enrolled 1,505 people who were not infected with the virus but lived in the same household as someone who recently tested positive. The patients were randomized to receive either one dose of the antibody therapy or a placebo administered as injections.
The drug provided 72 percent protection against symptomatic infections in the first week and 93 percent protection in subsequent weeks, Regeneron said.
Helpful results: The trial tested the antibody treatment for use as a “passive vaccine,” which involves directly injecting antibodies into the body. Traditional vaccines rely on a person’s immune system to activate and develop its own antibodies.
That means the treatment may provide immediate benefits, in contrast to active vaccines, which take weeks to provide protection. In addition, using injections rather than an infusion could make administering it more convenient than the currently authorized use for antibody drugs.
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WHO warns global COVID-19 pandemic ‘growing exponentially’
Top World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Monday warned against “complacency” in fighting COVID-19 amid a troubling spike in cases worldwide.
There were 4.4 million new cases recorded in the last week, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, the seventh week in a row of increasing cases. That’s compared to about 500,000 cases per week a year ago. Deaths have been rising for four weeks.
“It is growing exponentially,” Van Kerkhove said of cases on a global basis.
Vaccines aren’t the only response: While vaccinations are rolling out and offer hope for gaining control of the pandemic, many countries, especially lower-income ones, have vaccinated only a small fraction of their population, amid a scramble for limited doses on a global scale.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries and individuals to maintain other precautions like masking, distancing and testing.
Global situation affects the US too: If the virus is circulating anywhere in high numbers, it provides opportunities for new variants of the virus to develop.
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Fauci says some ‘breakthrough’ infections after vaccinations ‘inevitable’
It seems like common sense, but the nation’s top infectious disease expert wants to make sure people understand that a vaccine with 95 percent efficacy is not 100 percent effective.
Anthony Fauci on Monday said it is inevitable that some people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will still get a “breakthrough” infection, because no vaccine is 100 percent effective.
What this means: A breakthrough infection is when a person contracts an illness despite being vaccinated against it. Fauci noted that there will be hundreds, and maybe thousands of instances of completely vaccinated people getting infected with COVID-19.
The key is to compare the small number of infections to the tens, and eventually hundreds, of millions of people who’ve been vaccinated, Fauci said. And even if a vaccine fails to protect against infection, it often protects against serious disease.
“We see this with all vaccines, in clinical trials, in the real world,” Fauci said during a virtual White House briefing. “No vaccine is 100 percent efficacious, or effective, which means that you will always see breakthrough infections, regardless of the efficacy of your vaccine.”
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Pause in use of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Urged After Blood Clots Reported
“CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Wednesday to further review these cases and assess their potential significance,” the statement said. “FDA will review that analysis as it also investigates these cases.
Until that process is complete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution. This is important, in part, to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan for proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot.”
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