'Immunity passports' for those who've fought coronavirus could become a reality in the post-pandemic world
The new coronavirus could be here to stay. It is invading our lives, forcing us to stay cooped up in our homes. And economies are bearing the brunt. To lessen the blow, scientists and politicians are floating an idea: Issuing immunity passports to those who have successfully fought off the virus.
Immunity passports will allow people to return to the workforce, helping the sinking economy. Restrictions will continue applying to those who are not immune yet. Germany, Italy and the UK are already considering this idea.
If implemented, the post-coronavirus world would be divided into two: the free and the unfree world. Some experts call it a temporary fix until a vaccine becomes available. However, not everyone is convinced about immunity passports.
"If enough are immune, then restrictions are unnecessary," Dr William Hanage from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, told MEA WorldWide (MEAWW). But he added that it is unlikely that enough people will develop immunity.
In the UK, health secretary Matt Hancock suggested that citizens who've had the virus might be issued with an immunity passport, which might look like a wristband.
"We are looking at an immunity certificate, how people who've had the disease, got the antibodies and therefore have immunity, can show that and get back as much as possible to normal life," he said.
In Italy, the conservative president of the northeastern Veneto region, one of the hardest-hit regions in the country, has proposed a special “license” for Italians immune to the disease.
Germany, on the other hand, is carrying out studies to identify those immune to the virus. Authorities are considering issuing passes to exclude workers from restrictive measures currently in place.
How do they decide whether people are immune to the disease or not?
The answer to the question is in people's blood. From collected blood samples, they look for evidence of immunity against the new coronavirus: Antibodies.
Antibodies respond to invading microorganisms. They remember past encounters with invaders, allowing them to launch a brutal attack if the same microorganisms were to strike again.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is launching these tests to study the US population. Currently, the US has recorded more than 398,809 infections and 12, 895 deaths.
Besides identifying immunity, these tests will help public health experts understand how the virus spreads. CDC Director Robert Redfield told Congress: “CDC has developed two tests that we’re evaluating right now so we can get an idea through surveillance what’s the extent of this outbreak, how many people are infected,” he told a House panel. “That is being moved out now to do these extensive surveillance programs.”
"These should help us to better understand the extent of undocumented infection in the community — to know who has been previously infected, and as time passes, to know how long this immunity might last," Dr Tara C Smith from the Kent State University College of Public Health told MEAWW.
Undocumented cases are those who have had either had mild or no symptoms of the disease. It also includes those who choose not to seek medical help. When experts carry out large-scale antibody tests, they can identify the scale of infections in a population. Over time, these tests can help experts understand the duration of immunity against the new coronavirus.
Commenting on the CDC tests, Dr Siddappa Byrareddy from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) told MEAWW: "This is a great step towards the understanding of the disease dynamics, it will especially help us to understand how long one can have an anti-SARS-CoV2 response."
The World Health Organization (WHO) will also carry out such large studies to look for antibodies. US scientists have developed a similar test. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new test for coronavirus antibodies — the first such test.
But there is one issue with these tests: its accuracy. We should keep in mind that there is a range of error (false negatives and false positives) for these tests, Dr Smith explained. Scientists are trying to perfect them.
However, experts think these tests may help ease restrictions. "If we find that a much larger percentage of the population has been infected than we currently assume, it may allow us to think about getting back to some semblance of "normal" more quickly," Dr Smith said.
Dr Byradeddy agrees. Most importantly, he added, it could help experts understand disease spread.
So, will immunity passports work?
According to Dr Smith, immunity passports might not work, largely because they depend on antibody tests which can produce inaccurate results. "Because of that and other issues, I'm not sure that such an "immunity passport" or other types of interventions based on serology will work," she added.
Plaguing immunity passports are other issues such as if people will try to deliberately infect themselves just so they can get back to work. "If that happens, that might undermine a lot of what we are trying to do with social distancing," Paul Hunter, professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, told CNN.
Besides, experts do not know how long a person's immunity against the new coronavirus can last. For instance, patients infected with the SARS virus, a close relative of the new coronavirus, were immune to the virus for a year. Scientists have a lot to understand about our immunity to the new coronavirus and understanding this will take time.
But, he adds, there is a positive side to immunity passports. "If you get something like this, you can get people back into areas where they are going to be meeting lots of others — health care workers, front line workers, supermarket workers, who would otherwise be at risk but once they've had the infection know that they don't need to worry they will take the infection back to their families," he told CNN.
As for issues with the tests being decisive, allowing only the strong to get back to work, Hunter said it is temporary. In over 18 months, we might have vaccines to protect those who are not immune yet, he said.