LONDON — As coronavirus vaccine campaigns advance, focus is turning to summer holidays and what sort of freedoms we may have this year —if our vaccination status influences this. A recent study from the United Kingdom has illustrated the possibility of conflict between those who have been vaccinated and those who have not, especially where there are travel limits on those who have not yet obtained a Covid shot. A British poll published on Friday revealed the possibility of “vaccine resentment.” If they don’t have a Covid vaccination in time for their summer break, almost one in every five people who haven’t gotten one say they’ll be resentful toward those who do. The topic is becoming more prominent as a number of countries debate how and when to implement a kind of “vaccine passport”, that will enable someone who has been vaccinated to travel.
Critics argue that it would be unacceptable to the unvaccinated, whether because of their age — younger people in most countries are yet to be vaccinated due to their reduced risk from the coronavirus — or that they choose not to be vaccinated. Travel business groups are still concerned with a lack of standardisation. The EU, for example, is proposing a “green digital credential”, that will indicate whether anyone had been vaccinated, recovered from Covid, or had a recent negative result. Meanwhile, vaccine “passports” containing one’s vaccination status, and are linked to the National Health Service app, that may be used in the United Kingdom.
On May 17, the UK government will release a list of countries where travel is allowed with or without quarantining upon return. However, the entry conditions for British citizens visiting other countries, and vice versa, remain unknown. The United Kingdom has one advantage, that it has accelerated its vaccination programme; over 34 million people have been treated with a single injection of a Covid vaccine, and over 13 million have had two doses. The majority of under-40s in the UK are yet to be vaccinated, but are next in line for a Covid injection. The British government has confirmed that it is on track to provide all U.K. adults a first dose before July 31.
The most recent vaccine sentiment study, undertaken in the United Kingdom by the University of Bristol, King’s College London, and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emergency Preparedness and Response, discovered that 18 percent of people who haven’t had a Covid vaccine yet, said they’ll feel resentful against those who have if they don’t get one in time for their summer break — despite the fact that a number of people have received one. The survey of nearly 5,000 British adults, conducted between April 1 and 16, discovered that respondents from higher-income households are more likely to expect they will experience resentment than respondents from lower-income households: 24 percent of unvaccinated people from households earning more than £55,000 a year claim they will feel resentful if they are not vaccinated in time for their holiday, compared to 14 percent of those who earn between £20,000 and £34,999.
Those aged 18 to 44 (20%) who have not yet received the vaccine are twice as likely as those aged 45 and up (8%) to be resentful, reflecting the very different levels of vaccine coverage between the age ranges. In total, one in every eight unvaccinated individuals (12%) express resentment against others who have received the vaccine. However, the survey showed that a large majority of people — two-thirds (67 percent ) — do not feel this way.
According to Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, “There is very broad enthusiasm in the U.K. for the staged approach to vaccines, going to the young and most disadvantaged first, as evidenced by the fact that just 12% of the still unvaccinated claim they blame those who have been.” “This, no doubt, represents the general pace and reliability of the vaccine rollout, as residents should be confident that they will get their turn soon.” He did add, however, that there are certain significant drawbacks to this. “With the summer holiday season looming as a critical target for many, and a potential test of our national spirit if others are able to travel while some are unable, public trust in the equity and dependability of any vaccine passport scheme will need to be carefully cultivated.”
