VACCINE PASSPORTS
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AN OPEN LETTER AGAINST VACCINE PASSPORTS

To: All UK Governments and Policy Makers

7^th September, 2021

We write as a group of counsellors, psychotherapists and psychologists who are in clinical practice in the United Kingdom.

As a group of mental health and wellbeing professionals, we have grave concerns about government proposals for ‘Vaccine Passports’, which have also been referred to as “COVID-Status Certificates” and “COVID Passes”. We ask that you immediately halt their implementation for domestic use in the United Kingdom.

Our professional concerns are based on the following 6 points:

1. Vaccine Passports create a coercive system of medical treatment which violates the principle of informed consent

The principle of informed consent plays a central role in medical ethics and international human rights law.

According to NHS policies, medical interventions must be fully voluntary and in line with this principle of informed consent:

“The decision to either consent or not to consent to treatment must be made by the person, and must not be influenced by pressure from medical staff, friends or family… If an adult has the capacity to make a voluntary and informed decision to consent to or refuse a particular treatment, their decision must be respected.” ^[1]https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/consent-to-treatment/

Under the current proposals, ‘COVID Passes’ will be used to demonstrate a person’s vaccination status, which will then be used to allow or deny basic civil liberties, including restricting a person’s right to work, travel or socialise.

Some uses of the COVID Passes (such as for large social events) may initially encompass alternatives to vaccination, such as PCR tests or proof of natural immunity for those who aren’t vaccinated.

Yet Vaccine Passports will also likely be used to gain or restrict access to employment, such as the use of the NHS App in England to evidence the vaccination status of Care Home Workers. ^[2]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1010601/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance.pdf

Employment mandates often have no alternative options to vaccination, forcing people to choose between their livelihood or agreeing to a medical intervention they are uncertain is safe.

These restrictions are a dangerous and unprecedented example of social pressure around a particular health intervention, and as such can be considered medically coercive.  As therapists, we firmly hold and believe that coercion is not consent.

2. There is not enough clinical data for some people to give informed consent to COVID-19 vaccinations

Many of the COVID-19 vaccinations use novel technologies which have been in widespread use for less than a year, are still in clinical trials and for which no long-term safety data is known.

There are a range of understandable reasons why people might be unable or reluctant to take a vaccine in the early stages of its development, especially those who have complex health conditions, ^[3]https://academic.oup.com/jncics/article/5/3/pkab049/6309948 those who have prior experiences of being harmed by medical treatments, or those with religious or moral concerns about the development process of the vaccine.

In March 2015, a significant judgement about informed medical consent was made in the UK Supreme Court. ^[4]Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board The court clarified that doctors must “take reasonable care to ensure that the patient is aware of any material risks involved in any treatment, and of any reasonable alternative or variant treatments”.

A ‘material risk’ is one in which “a reasonable person in the patient’s position would be likely to attach significance to the risk, or the doctor is, or should be aware that the particular patient would be likely to attach significance to it”. ^[5]https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2013-0136.html

This is an important judgment when considering Vaccine Passports or Mandatory Vaccinations, as it means that UK doctors can no longer rely on simply sharing the consensus of a reasonable body of medical opinion (‘the Bolam test’) as a basis for their patient’s informed consent. Nor can generic claims that ‘the science is settled’ or ‘vaccines are safe and effective’ – be used to justify their safety on an individual basis.

Instead, UK doctors must provide information about any risk to which the individual patient would attach significance.^[6]https://www.bma.org.uk/media/2481/bma-consent-toolkit-september-2019.pdf In the case of the newly developed COVID-19 vaccinations, much of the safety data being requested by UK patients who have concerns about their individual circumstances is extremely limited or it simply doesn’t exist, ^[7]Pfizer/BiotNTech BNT162b2 RMP – Risk Management Plan: Table 44. List of Important Risks and Missing Information: Long term safety data and as such, many patients cannot give informed consent to treatment.

As therapists, we uphold the right of each person to make an informed choice about whether it is right for them to take a COVID-19 vaccination, based on their own personal circumstances and medical history. 

3. Vaccine Passports pose significant risks to our most vulnerable clients

As psychological therapists, many of us work with vulnerable clients who are living with severe post-traumatic stress after enduring violations to their bodily autonomy and a disregard for their informed consent. For example, many of us routinely work with clients who have been badly harmed through experiences of rape and sexual abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking and modern-day slavery, torture and war crimes, prior experiences of forced or harmful medical treatment or through living in coercive and abusive relationships.

As psychological practitioners, upholding the principles of client autonomy (including bodily autonomy) and informed consent are at the heart of our clinical practice. They are the foundation of many of the statutes within our ethical codes and guide much of our ethical and clinical decision making.

Much of our clinical work is based around helping our clients develop the ability to say ‘no’, to exercise their right to choose and to protect their own body boundaries after having lived through profoundly violating and traumatic experiences.

The introduction of Vaccine Passports has the potential to undermine years of effective therapeutic work with trauma survivors. Many of our clients, both past and present, have fought a hard-won battle to assert their boundaries and say ‘no’ to unwanted intrusions into their bodies, and to psychologically defend themselves against coercive behaviour.

Vaccine Passports would subject trauma survivors across the UK to a system of medical coercion in which it suddenly feels impossible to say ‘no’ without losing their basic human freedoms. We believe that the potential for Vaccine Passports causing re-traumatisation and psychological distress to many of our most vulnerable clients is significant.

4. Vaccine Passports are discriminatory against the most marginalised minority groups in our society

Vaccine passports will disproportionately affect people from marginalised and oppressed communities. Statistics on so-called ‘vaccine hesitancy’ or ‘vaccine refusers’ show that they contain disproportionate numbers of highly vulnerable people, including people from historically oppressed ethnic minorities and those of low socioeconomic status, as well as people who have prior experiences of forced treatment or other traumatic events. ^[8]Coronavirus and vaccine hesitancy, Great Britain: 9 August 2021^[9]The Role of Trauma in Mothers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Beliefs and Intentions –https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8135971/^[10]Vaccine Reluctance Among Older Adults with a History of Trauma- https://cdn.fedweb.org/fed-42

Vaccine Passports have the potential to be particularly harmful to minority groups who have historically faced the weaponised use of experimental medicines to commit acts of torture, genocide or other bodily harms against them. Statistics show that people from these communities are some of the most likely in the UK to be vaccine-hesitant and to express concerns about the safety of the vaccines. ^[11]Attitudes towards vaccines and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: Implications for public health communications- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(20)30012-0/fulltext

Given the facts of history, the higher levels of vaccine hesitancy/ refusal in some ethnic communities is rooted in centuries of collective trauma, systemic oppression, and human rights abuses of which the medical system has often colluded with and played an active role in perpetuating. ^[12]https://traumapsychnews.com/2021/06/vaccine-hesitancy-in-black-indigenous-communities-in-the-us-canada/^[13]https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/upshot/bad-medicine-the-harm-that-comes-from-racism.html

Given the historical abuses perpetrated by the medical establishment, in the name of eugenics, experimental ‘research’ or population control – there are many understandable reasons why people from marginalised communities would be mistrustful of the promises of pharmaceutical companies and more resistant to taking an experimental vaccine.

By penalising the unvaccinated, Vaccine Passports risk heightening racial and socioeconomic inequalities in the UK, and retraumatizing people from marginalised communities.  We believe that Vaccine Passports are deeply disrespectful of the reality of racial trauma and the long-lasting damage caused by the political atrocities of the past.

5. Vaccine Passports will not effectively control the spread of COVID-19.

Aside from the questions of medical ethics, based on the current science, there is no good reason to believe that Vaccine Passports will be an effective measure in stopping the spread of coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation states that there are numerous ‘scientific unknowns’ about the vaccines and their impact, including their efficacy in preventing disease and limiting transmission of COVID-19. ^[14]https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/interim-position-paper-considerations-regarding-proof-of-covid-19-vaccination-for-international-travellers. Our collective understanding of these matters is still developing, and is frequently complicated by the introduction of new variants, but recent research suggests that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people have the same viral load when infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus – meaning both groups are equally capable of spreading it. ^[15]Impact of Delta on viral burden and vaccine effectiveness against new SARS-CoV-2 infections in the UK – https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.18.21262237v1 ^[16]Shedding of Infectious SARS-CoV-2 Despite Vaccination –https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.31.21261387v4^[17]Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Among Vaccinated Healthcare Workers, Vietnam –https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3897733

This tallies with the findings of the clinical trials conducted by the vaccine developers themselves, that the current COVID-19 vaccinations do not prevent vaccinated people from spreading, catching, or experiencing symptoms of the virus, and as yet there is no clear evidence to suggest that they won’t transmit the virus at roughly the same rate as unvaccinated people.

Despite the prevalence of unfounded reports in the media around unvaccinated people driving COVID-19 mutations, there remains no clear scientific evidence to suggest that this is the case.^[18]https://undercurrents723949620.wordpress.com/2021/07/20/the-unvaccinated-are-not-fueling-covid-variants/

On this basis, it is unfounded and unscientific to assume that vaccinated people are at any more risk from unvaccinated people than they are from other vaccinated people.

Vaccine Passports risk creating needless social divides and the erosion of the civil rights of UK citizens when there is no evidence that they will be an effective public health measure.

6. Vaccine Passports pose a grave risk to medical privacy and the confidentiality of our clients.  

Whilst the exact scope and technical implementation of Vaccine Passports or ‘COVID Passes’ will vary depending on where you live in the UK, their arrival gives rise to serious concerns about confidentiality and medical privacy.

In England and Wales, the NHS App (which is used to generate the digital ‘NHS COVID Pass’) contains a range of private information about its users in addition to their COVID-19 Vaccination status, including their medical records. It also utilises facial and fingerprint recognition technology in order to verify user identity. ^[19]https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/about-the-nhs-app/^[20]https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/15/nhs-app-storing-facial-verification-data-via-contract-with-firm-linked-to-tory-donors *NB, this link has been added on 15/09 as further evidence, along with a minor amendment to the text for clarity and accuracy. Original version here.” As with any smartphone app containing such intimate data, there comes with it a serious potential for misuse and abuse, as well as for data breaches, (as has already happened in Northern Ireland) ^[21]https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus/covid-passportscheme-data-breach-very-worrying-40696170.html cyber-attacks or the commercial sale of data in ways that could be harmful to individuals or minority groups.

There is also a significant potential for ‘scope creep’. We are aware that once the digital infrastructure has been so heavily invested in, ^[22]https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/vaccine-passports-contracts-government-covid-two-years-2023-1127579 Digital Vaccine Passports are unlikely to be a temporary feature of life in the UK. Beyond the pandemic, like many ‘emergency measures’, they could well evolve over time. In this case, Vaccine Passports could well develop into a permanent form of Digital Health Pass or a Digital ID which could further erode civil liberties and our right to medical privacy. ^[23]https://inews.co.uk/news/government-accused-of-ushering-in-national-id-cards-by-the-backdoor-after-covid-vaccine-passport-contract-1062476

As a result, numerous privacy and human rights organisations have sounded alarm bells about the risks of Vaccine Passports and the high likelihood of such a ‘scope creep’. ^[24]https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4074/looming-disaster-immunity-passports-and-digital-identity ^[25]https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/stopvaccinepassports/ ^[26]https://www.scottishhumanrights.com/media/2176/21_04_28_-covid-certificates-and-human-rights-vfinal.pdf This is especially possible in the UK, given the plans that are already underway for the development of a Digital ID ^[27]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-digital-identity-and-attributes-trust-framework/the-uk-digital-identity-and-attributes-trust-framework ^[28]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-outlined-for-uks-use-of-digital-identity and the increasing utilisation of digital surveillance by both Government and commercial organisations. ^[29]https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/

As such, we believe that the rollout of Vaccine Passports poses a significant threat to privacy and civil liberties in the UK, over both the short and long-term future. As therapists, we are concerned that the adoption of Vaccine Passports could have damaging consequences for our clients and jeopardise their right to confidentiality and medical privacy.

On the basis of our professional concerns, we call upon the Governments and policymakers of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to halt the introduction of a medically coercive system of Vaccine Passports – and to protect our right to informed consent and bodily autonomy in the UK.

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