Due to the rising concerns of COVID-19 reinfection, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning on the validity of “immunity passports” which is currently being studied by some governments as a measure to enable recovered patients to resume work and travel.
“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” said the United Nations health body. This is despite their ongoing review of scientific evidence on antibody responses to the coronavirus, which so far has not shown whether or not subsequent infection is possible in humans.
“Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an ‘immunity passport’ or ‘risk-free certificate’ that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection,” added WHO.
Among the countries announcing plans regarding these passports is Chile, which will partly base its issuance on antibody tests. Meanwhile, other countries including the U.S said that they are looking into it as an option.
Aside from the uncertainty surrounding reinfection, WHO also raised concerns on how people holding “immunity passports” might tend to ignore public health measures, including the use of protective masks. Issuing these “immunity passports” may likely encourage the spread of the virus.
Recently, several countries including Iran, Spain and Belgium announced their decisions to slowly lift lockdown restrictions around the latter part of May depending on the development of the infection curve.
Despite this, many countries remain under lockdown as of the moment, especially with the global death toll surpassing the 200,000-mark last Apr. 25.
Header photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash
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