Opinion: Passports not simple solution

Last week this space was filled with prose suggesting COVID passports are needed. That position is valid.

So, too, are concerns about misuse of such a tool.

It would be great if we had enough support to justify running four more pages of just Letters to the Editor each week. There is some great debate there and there was on this issue.

Last week’s offering was really only focused on the peace of mind one would have if travelling abroad. You get to another country, they have their own guidelines and restrictions for entering, you hand them a recognized COVID passport, all is well. Much is assumed there, such as there is an internationally recognized document AND the Astra Zeneca recognition fiasco is somehow solved, so lots of moving parts.

However, more government oversight/tracking is never a good thing and it always does leave room for abuses.

Civil liberties have come up many times – mask wearing and demand for vaccinations are just two examples. It is key to remember, it is not just your rights in question, it is also the rights of others to feel safe that must be considered. The problem comes when that safety concern goes beyond rational thought and imposes exorbitant demands on others.

A passport should not do that. M.W.