AROUND THE WORLD DURING COVID
It was still dark outside. The mysticbeasts of the night were going about their way. A deep asleep Verum was dreaming of a pleasant little picnic in the garden. Suddenly, the sky started glowing pink. Pink sparks started darting towards the garden from the sky. The atmosphere got brighter and brighter when Verum woke up with a jerk.
The pink glow was coming from her corner of the dorm room. As her sleepy eyes focused, she saw her crystal ball had turned pink. It was a special day indeed. Today, her moody crystal ball would answer questions regardless of who asked them!
Of course, her friends and dorm-mates were the first to get in the line. It wasn’t every day that they could interact with a Seer crystal ball!
Orak said, “Hi there, Verum’s crystal ball! How can travel be made safer during the pandemic?”
The crystal ball made whooshing sounds as pink fog swirled around on its surface. With a slight jerk, two words popped up on its surface — Vaccine Passports!
Orak said, “Hey, I’ve heard of this! Vaccine passports are physical or digital certificates that say you’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19. Vaccination is a way of protecting people from diseases. Alternatively, they mention if you’ve tested negative for it.”
“They seem like a convenient way to travel around the world,” said Felix, “All you need to do is show the QR code at the airports!”
Scorch spoke up, “I’m not so sure about them. To make such certificates, you’d need access to the government’s list of people who have been vaccinated. And you’d need access to individual people’s health records. That’s quite risky today.”
“Why so?” said Verum.
“Because that’s people’s private data, you know?” said Scorch.
“But it’ll help keep people safe in public places like stadiums, airports, shopping malls, and so on. Public health is important, isn’t it?” said Felix.
Verum looked at her crystal ball. It wasn’t making any noise. It agreed with Scorch. Verum said, “You’re right. There is a risk. But many countries like Denmark, Estonia, and Israel have started using this technology. What we need is a trial to see how successful a vaccine passport is.”
Her crystal ball whooshed in agreement.
