What are Coronavirus immunity passports?

New Delhi, Apr 23: Coronavirus disease or COVID-19 now a pandemic globally has killed 1,84,204. Meanwhile, the total number of cases across the globe mounted to 2,637,414. While most parts of the world are living under some form of restriction to contain the spread, a few countries have come up with different strategies through which they can slowly uplift the shutdown.

One such strategy amongst them is issuing immunity passports or similar kinds of certificates for those who have recovered from COVID-19 and have been declared immune to the virus.

What is an immunity passport?

Immunity passport is a certificate which states that the person to whom it is issued is immune to the COVID-19. The idea for the 'immunity passport' or a 'back to work' pass means 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. However, scientists and researchers are not sure for how long this immunity will last.

How would you get an immunity passport?

To receive an immunity passport several tests will be conducted which will, later on, help the scientists and researchers to study about the virus. The test will identify whether the person who is immune has the specific antibodies to fight off the deadly virus or not. A

The test will also identify the specific proteins that the immune person's body produces after getting infected with the virus. However, it is still unclear when these passports will be rolled out for the general public.

It must be noted that it takes over a week for our body to produce antibodies against the virus.

How would this help?

Many have criticised the scheme as both scientifically and ethically controversial. At the same time, experts have said that issuing such certificates would allow, people to go to work slowly and shutdown can be slowly uplifted.