WHO opposes issuance of immunity passport

The idea for the immunity passport or a back-to-work pass is that if you’ve been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and recover, then you have immunity that will protect you from getting the disease again for some amount of time.

The World Health Organization has warned against issuance of the so-called immunity passports or risk-free certificates as a way of easing lockdows.

While disclosing this in statement on Saturday April 25, 2020, WHO stated that there had been no evidence whatsoever that people who had recovered from the virus will be protected against a second infection.

It added that such move could actually increase virus transmission as people who assumed and has been certified immune may stop taking precautions against the virus.

“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” the statement reads.

As of Friday, WHO stated that there was no study which had evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to the virus conferred immunity to subsequent infection by the virus in humans.

“At this point in the pandemic, there is not enough evidence about the effectiveness of antibody-mediated immunity to guarantee the accuracy of an ‘immunity passport’ or ‘risk-free certificate’,” it added.

The organisation also stated that laboratory tests to detect antibodies needed further validation to determine their accuracy and also needed to distinguish between previous infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus – which has caused the pandemic – and the six other known coronaviruses in circulation.

Some governments have considered permitting people who have recovered to travel or return to work because the restrictions imposed on movement to stop the virus spreading have crippled economies.

More than 2.8m cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide and nearly 200,000 people have died.