Liberty responds to “vaccine passport” plans

Liberty has responded to new plans for “vaccine passports” for people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine, warning that the proposals risk further marginalising those already most at risk:

Sam Grant, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Liberty, said: “We all want to get out of this pandemic as soon as possible but this must not be at the expense of our rights or freedoms or by pushing the most marginalised into an even more precarious position.

“Even the introduction of a voluntary immunity passport to prove if you’ve had a vaccine could result in many being blocked from essential public services, work or housing – with the most marginalised among us hardest hit.

“This has wider implications too because any form of immunity passport could pave the way for a full ID system – an idea which has repeatedly been rejected as incompatible with building a rights-respecting society.

“As there is no clear evidence vaccines prevent the spread of the virus, this move feels like an opportunistic detour rather than a serious route out of the pandemic.  Ministers have been right to distance themselves from talk of immunity passports so far and we urge them not to go back on that now. We have always supported proportionate action to protect lives, but that must not come at the expense of our rights and freedoms.”

Contact the Liberty press office on 020 7378 3656 / 07973 831 128 or pressoffice@libertyhumanrights.org.uk