California on Friday rolled out a new system that enables people to obtain proof of COVID-19 vaccination from the state’s health system and present it as proof of having gotten a jab.

“We’re better enabling California to verify their vaccination status to ensure our state is in a better position to encourage the best practices for reducing the spread of COVID-19,” California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan told reporters on a call.

The vaccine verification system, dubbed a “digital vaccine record,” will require people to enter several details like their name and date of birth to get a digital copy of their vaccination record. If their record is found, they will get a link that they can use to access their vaccination information, including the date or dates they received doses and a QR code confirming their record is authentic.

It’s the same information that people see on the paper card that many receive when they get a vaccine, but authorities are recommending the vaccinated keep their paper cards in a safe and secure location and use the digital pass instead.

Over 23.5 million people in California have received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to state data. Whoever administers a vaccine in the state reports details of the recipient to state authorities. Over 90 percent of the people who have been vaccinated chose to give state authorities their contact information. . . .

Unvaccinated cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point are getting singled out, bullied and unfairly punished — even if they have COVID-19 immunity from earlier infections, according to a report.

All but around three dozen of the 4,500 students at the centuries-old New York training academy have been vaccinated — with a spreadsheet showing the cadets’ status getting widely circulated, Fox News said.

Those not vaccinated are derided as “diseased” and “dirty” and treated as outcasts — and punished for violating mask and social distancing mandates, even after statewide restrictions have been lifted, cadets and their families told Sean Hannity.

Some cadets complain that they are unable to take any leave this summer because a seven-day enforced quarantine eats up any available time. . . .

More than 10,000 rock fans gather at Download to enjoy their favourite bands with mosh pits, no social distancing and no need for masks at first festival selected as official test event

• Thousands flocked to Donington Park, Derby, for the beginning of the Download pilot festival event on Friday
• Around 40 bands will perform over three days on two stages and festival-goers advised not to leave venue
• It is the UK’s first post-Covid music festival which is being carefully monitored by government scientists
• The event is running at a reduced capacity but will not enforce social distancing measures and face masks

A marvelous review in these pages last November inspired me to read a new book by O. Carter Snead, “What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Human Bioethics.” It was published by Harvard University Press on Oct. 13. Covid-19 had begun its transformation of American life a few months before, and of course the book made no mention of it.

Yet Mr. Snead’s volume helped explain the bizarre and at times perverse response of prosperous Western nations to the pandemic: the long discontinuation of economic life, the belief that pixelated screens can facilitate human relationships, the prohibitions on ordinary social interactions, the fetishization of masks. These policies and practices weren’t handed down from the ether by Reason and Science but bore the weight of contemporary assumptions about—to borrow Mr. Snead’s title—what it means to be human.

His book isn’t about public health but “public bioethics”—the effort to make humane laws and rules for biotechnology and medical care. Mr. Snead’s premise and theme is that humans are embodied creatures, not mere wills and intellects. That premise stands in contrast with the dominant modern worldview, which he calls “expressive individualism”: the belief that the human self “is not defined by its attachments or networks of relations, but rather by its capacity to choose a future pathway that is revealed by the investigation of its own inner depths of sentiment. . . . Because this self is defined by its capacity to choose, it is associated fundamentally with its will and not its body.” . . .

The European Commission on June 14 formally signed legislation to create the EU Digital COVID Certificate. The regulation will take effect July 1 and expire in 12 months.

Member States are required to start issuing the first certificates within six weeks of the July 1 start date, if they haven’t done so by then.

During the official signing ceremony, three main EU institutions — Parliament, the Council and the Commission — signed the regulation to show their support, asserting the certificate is “a symbol of what Europe stands for.”

Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia and Poland started issuing the first passports on June 1. Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Spain began issuing passports days later.

The remainder of the EU and Schengen Area countries, except for Hungary and Finland which are still in the test phase, are expected to connect to the new technology framework.

How the EU passport works

Under the vaccine passport scheme, each EU Member State will issue its own certificate, but all will adopt the same entry requirements for visitors.

Individuals will obtain their passports through test centers or health authorities, or directly via an eHealth portal.

The digital version of the certificate can be stored on a mobile device. Citizens can also request a paper version. Both will have a QR code that contains essential information, as well as a digital signature to make sure the certificate is authentic.

The Digital COVID Certificate will show that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the virus.

The certificate information differs based on the vaccination status of users. For those who have received their shot, the vaccine manufacture, date of vaccination and the number of doses will be documented.

For those who have not yet been vaccinated, Member States require PCR or antigen test results be provided when traveling between countries. The passport will record the “type of test, date and exact time of test, name of the test centre and the results.”

The stated intent of the Digital COVID Certificate is to allow people to move between EU countries without having to quarantine or undergo extra coronavirus tests. However, according to the regulation, member states can impose extra travel restrictions in cases where “additional measures are a must in order to safeguard the public health.”

What about travelers from outside the U.S.?

Earlier this month, an EU spokesperson said the app could be extended to citizens from non-EU countries, including U.S. Americans who obtain the certificate would be exempt from travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.

“Right now if you’re an American, not living in the EU, you could get the certificate if you ask the national authorities of a member state to give you that certificate based on some proof that you’ve been vaccinated, or had a recent COVID test,” said the EU spokesperson.

The decision on whether to allow non-EU citizens to use the app rests with each individual member state.

Why U.S. won’t have national vaccine passport anytime soon

A fierce debate has kicked off across the U.S. over whether a digital health certificate or “vaccine passports” should be required to prove vaccine status, The New York Times reported.

So far, the Biden administration has resisted the idea of a “vaccine passport” for the U.S. On May 28, U.S. Director of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. was taking a “very close look” at vaccine passports for international travel. Later that day, the DHS clarified there will be no “federal mandate” for vaccine passports in the U.S.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. does not have a national database for immunization records that could act as the source of vaccination data for use in digital passes. That’s because a national system to create a unique identification number to link the health records of every American has been banned since 1998, spearheaded by then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who said such a system would be an unwarranted privacy intrusion.

An attempt to overturn the ban passed the U.S. House in 2019, but was rejected by the Senate.

In the absence of a federal policy, Americans could need several digital passes, similar to having many credit cards in a wallet, The Los Angeles Times reported. It could also mean employers, businesses and venue operators will each have to decide which option works for them — or might not bother using any at all.

A growing number of businesses — from cruise lines to sports venues — have already said they will require proof of vaccinations for entry or services.

Hundreds of digital health pass initiatives are attempting to launch apps that provide a verified electronic record of immunizations and negative COVID test results to streamline the process for businesses and other institutions.

States take a stand

The issue has sparked debate in the U.S., and led a number of states to introduce legislation to curtail or ban vaccine passports due to privacy, equity, liberty and accountability concerns.

These states include Florida, Texas, Missouri, Utah, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Indiana, Iowa, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Georgia, Wyoming and Idaho.

So far,  vaccine passports have been implemented in two states — New York and Hawaii.

New York implemented the “Excelsior Pass” — an electronic proof of vaccination developed by IBM — that some businesses in the state are requiring for entry.

According to The New York Times, the state plans to expand the program — estimated to cost taxpayers $17 million — possibly using the system in the future to verify a resident’s age, driver’s license status and other health records.

In Hawaii, fully vaccinated individuals who upload proof of vaccination to the state’s “Safe Travels” system are allowed to travel inter-county without pre-travel testing or quarantine restrictions. Gov. David Ige said he is targeting July 4 for allowing vaccinated out-of-state travelers who come into Hawaii to bypass restrictions through a similar system.

Beginning June 15, Hawaii will expand its passport program to trans-Pacific travelers who have been vaccinated in Hawaii.

Late last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his state will roll out a new vaccine verification system for private businesses.

During an event in San Francisco on June 14, Newsom said the system will consist of electronic vaccine cards that individuals can keep on their phones as opposed to carrying around a paper card.

Once the state fully reopens without capacity limits, which happened Tuesday, businesses can require individuals to show their vaccine cards to prove they do not need to wear a mask, SFGATE reported. Newsom will announce California’s version of this electronic system later this week.

In all of the new or proposed digital passes or apps in the U.S., people who have been vaccinated or received a negative test result must first consent to have their information uploaded into the pass or app, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Outside the EU and U.S., Australia earlier this month rolled out a digital proof of vaccination certificate, and Japan plans to issue one as soon as this summer.

Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) explained why his state was rejecting vaccine passports as a policy in the wake of the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Novavax says its Covid vaccine is 90% effective at blocking symptoms of the disease and doses are ready to be rolled out from September

• American firm said two-dose jab stopped 100% of people falling severely ill
• Trials involved nearly 30,000 participants across 119 sites in US and Mexico
• Only 14 people given jab caught Covid, resulting in an overall efficacy of 90.4%

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit waged by more than 100 Houston Methodist hospital system workers seeking to challenge the organization’s requirement that workers get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition for continued employment. . . .