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The novel coronavirus and Covid-19, the disease caused by it, are here to stay perhaps forever. There is no medicine to treat the disease at this point of time. A vaccine against the virus is in the process of trial. The world has its fingers crossed. But governments have to function and find a way to keep economies running. This is what sustains the livelihood of people, whose life is at risk due to the raging novel coronavirus. The Covid-19 outbreak has posed a difficult choice between life and livelihood. Until now, governments world over chose to protect life over livelihood by imposing lockdowns. Now, the focus is shifting to livelihood with the hope that hospitals save the lives at risk. But how do we go about livelihood sustaining economy that includes jobs and travel. Who should travel? Who can be allowed to work in public? The touchstone test here is to find out who poses the least danger of spreading the infection and who is least vulnerable. This brings the governments to the idea of an 'immunity passport', of some kind. Conversation around immunity passports got serious in the latter half of April, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned against the idea. Still, some countries have actually gone ahead with the idea. China launched this "immunity passport" in February on an experimental basis with the help of tech giant Alibaba. By April, it had been implemented in most parts of China as the country lifted its lockdown. Did you start thinking about Aarogya Setu app? China actually inspired governments in many countries with this model of contact tracing. But in China, it is move invasive as the country's app also requires passport or national identity details like India's Aadhaar. Authorities verify the information and each user in China gets a QR code in red, amber or green. Only the greens are allowed to travel freely. Quarantine for the rest. India too has allowed travel for only those who have Aarogya Setu app installed in their phones showing green band declaring the person safe. However, this is purely based on self-declaration. In the absence of Aarogya Setu app, a self-declaration form also works in India. The US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Russia and many other countries are considering or adopting this model of public movement. The South American country Chile is in fact issuing certificates to those who have recovered from Covid-19. The certificate is valid for three months. These people are allowed to travel freely and work at public places.

What is the problem with this kind of immunity passport?

To understand this let's consider an episode from history as quoted by the journal Nature. A similar immunity passport arrangement had been made in Louisiana in the US in the 19th century following an outbreak of yellow fever.

Yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted through mosquito bite. It is mostly mild with symptoms like fever, headache, vomiting, fatigue and jaundice. Some patients may have fatal heart, liver and kidney conditions. No specific treatment for the disease exists. Treatment is focused on symptoms and limiting complications. But a vaccine is there. The scare that yellow fever caused in this American state was such that people were divided into two categories based on their exposure to the yellow fever virus: acclimated and un-acclimated. Acclimated were those who had survived yellow fever and un-acclimated were those who somehow managed to protect them from the virus. What followed was bizarre. Immunity or lack of it dictated who could marry, who and where they could work, and, also how much a slave was worth. Presumed immunity concentrated political and economic power in the hands of the wealthy elite, and was weaponised to justify white supremacy, Nature records. Now consider a post-coronavirus world. An immunity passport to travel within and outside the city, state or country? An immunity passport to work in public? Employers asking for immunity passport during interviews? Immunity passport for marriage, for invitation to social gatherings, for a beer party with friends, to enter a discotheque, to enter a shopping mall or to go to college? Some agencies in India have already toyed with the idea. In April, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai said it was checking how many BEST (public bus transport in Mumbai) drivers, conductors and healthcare workers had been exposed to coronavirus and got immunity against Covid-19. This puts some people at greater economic risk if they have managed to keep themselves safe since the coronavirus outbreak. A large number of them have already suffered due to coronavirus lockdown. Many have lost jobs and now if they don't have immunity for coronavirus, they may not get employed for being vulnerable to Covid-19. There is an additional problem. That there is only limited data to support the theory that a cured person has better immunity against novel coronavirus than a non-Covid-19 person. But employers may be tempted to reduce their presumptive person-days of work by recruiting somebody with immunity passport. The employers from various industries in India have been clamouring for greater freedom in recruitment and management of workers. Recent changes in labour laws by many states are an attempt in that direction. Immunity passport in job market could be another major setback for the workforce. It is feared that with immunity passport gaining currency in some form or the other in countries may lead to a new kind of apartheid in post-Covid-19 world.