ITALIANS DO IT BETTER....NOT: THE VACCINE PASSPORT FRACAS

ITALIANS DO IT BETTER....NOT: THE VACCINE PASSPORT FRACAS.

 

 1. EU Green passport was conceived to allow EU citizens to cross internal borders in a relatively hassle-free way;

 2. mainly two countries are enacting forms of “Internal vaccine passports” or are in the process, France and Italy;

 3. However, the limitation pertaining the Passport are similar if not identical to those imposed in neighboring countries NOT adopting compulsory passports / phone apps, see Austria.

 4. Given that, not only the vaccine passport per se is useless, but it opens the gate to instruments technically able to act as a stealth “Social Credit system” à là China, with ominous undertones. 

 

The EU Covid passport, enacted on July 1st, was an attempt to give a standard way for citizens and visitors to cross borders and use long range transport under a standard certification and with a conformity of treatment irrespective of the border being crossed.

The second part rapidly went out of the window: given the rapid expansion of the Delta variant, notably in Portugal, other countries have started to impose additional requirements for anyone incoming from there.

My poor Italy moreover, did something not unexpected but that belies the perception of “Ruptùre” that the arrival of former head of the BCE Mario Draghi as Prime Minister had caused. In the same way Italy jumped the gun on the “Tobin Tax”, it HAS jumped the gun on the internal Green Pass.

France, when introducing the internal health pass, has been clear in saying that “You will not need to present a health pass for acts of daily life (commuting, shopping,cinemas, etc.) “ .

Also, “PCR and Antigen tests are free for French residents who are covered by French social security. “

Italy has done something quite different, and not in a good way. First, the government bent my nose slightly out of joint by extending the state of emergency, through a decree, until December 31st (art. 1). But the juicy tidbits are in Art. 3, because Italy doesn't seem to care too much about citizens' right to “acts of daily life”, since it specifically compels citizens to produce the Green Pass for:

going to a restaurant and eating inside;

Sports events and entertainments, including Cinemas;

Museums, theme parks etc;

any sporting center, limited to enclosed spaces;

But the troubling part is this extract of Art. 3 : “By decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, adopted in concert with the Ministers of health, for technological innovation and digital transition, and of the economy and finance, after consulting the Guarantor for the protection of personal data, the technical specifications for processing in digital mode the aforementioned certifications are specified, in order to allow digital verification, while ensuring the protection of the personal data contained therein. Pending the adoption of the aforementioned decree, certifications issued in paper format may be used for the purposes referred to in this article.”

This is a rough translation of the usual Italian legal gibberish and it's raising a number of issues. Because mark my words: Covid passports are LEGAL documents impacting citizens' rights and duties and have a very tenuous connection with the health issue. And it's possible to have strong indications of it.

For that, look no further than Italy's northern neighbour, Austria.

Austria is very interesting to me for a couple of reasons: one, my daughter has been on an MBA exchange program there during the first semester and so I have confirmation that it actually works as advertised, and two, its Covid regulations are largely identical to those imposed by the Italian legislation on Covid Passports..... without COVID Passport mandates.

Austria basically told the population that in order to engage in a series of activities which are largely the same list as the Italian one, you need to have one of the following documents:

1. “ Negative COVID test: Find more information on validity and testing options below; OR

2. Proof of vaccination: The following vaccines (including mix-and-match vaccines) are recognised: BioNtech/Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna. A vaccination certificate/vaccination card/vaccine passport in German or English can be used as proof of vaccination; OR

3. Proof of past infection: An official/medical certificate proving a past infection is required.”

Ah, but that's not the entire list, since the wily Austrians added:

“ 4. The EU Digital COVID Certificate is now accepted as proof alongside all previous forms of proof.”, which means that a person who has a medical document releasing him or her from quarantine after healing from Covid can produce that on any approved venues safe in the knowledge that no further obligation will be imposed on him or her. Should he possess an EU Digital Certificate that would be enough, but it's neither necessary nor, above all, compulsory as in Italy.

Now, for the life of me I haven't heard, read or seen anybody in Italy ask this question:

“Can anyone tell me why Austria, with the SAME set of limitation to access and activities, imposes acceptance of any relevant and valid underlying documentation, while Italy feels bound to overlay an Electronic QR code based system on top?”

As much as I wracked my brains about that, the possible explanations ranged between the vapid to the unsavoury. Bear in mind that when the Decree was approved I received its arrival in a decidedly grumpy frame of mind: I have had Covid, I was quarantined, and each day authorities sent me an email If I forgot about the daily questionnaire on my health state. That communication reminded me of the legal consequences, extending to criminal law liability. Yet, two months on, and with this newly minted vaccine passport mandate, my Green passport was not available ( it has since appeared).

Italian authorities moreover are hinting repeatedly about a mandate to produce the Covid passport to board public transport, local trains, and generally extend the limits. Remember: contrary to Austria it is NOT your vaccination status, or having had Covid, that determines what you can or cannot do: it's the QR code with the accompanying App that controls it that it's the difference between the have and the have nots. My “authorities issued” healing certificate meant nothing. And I use public transport daily and local trains often.

So, let's speculate together on the reasons to make the QR code compulsory. But first, another difference between Austria and Italy: in Austria, covid tests are not paid by the citizens ( I never use “Free” because it's a lie: the cost is borne by the general public), while in Italy they must be paid by the citizens. And there is another rub. In order to defray fiscally the expense you have to do two things: produce your public health code, and.... pay through electronic or otherwise traceable means, because it is a “service”, not a product. After the Covid passport introduction, at the end of the period, the State has two lists:

1. those who bought covid tests, but paid cash;

2. those who bought covid tests and paid electronically.

Strip list 1. of people who are normal employees, you are introducing a sort of stealth “China Social Credit System”: the “compliant”, that are more likely to go along with restrictive measures with no questions asked, and the “rebels” who are in fact less prone to sit tight and do as they are told by the higher orders.

There are even more ominous implications possible. I hope I am wrong about my interpretation of the decree, but it's possible that the only form for acceptance of the Covid passport would be through the same co-location-enabled smartphone app the government originally studied for Test and Trace. The test and trace strategy never really flew in Italy, but what government would balk at geolocating most of their citizens' coming and goings, with their consent under the pressure of safety?

There is another rational explanation possible of the Covid passport in Italian tomato sauce: age.

Covid passport mandate starts at 12 years of age here ( 11 in France). The younger, being FAR less likely to develop complications or being hospitalized, have been a lesser priority. Now, tough it's summer, the season of fun and love.... not. Imagine the archetipal Italian family, mom, dad, and two sons aged 13 and 15. They have booked a fortnight in Sicily, or worse yet they plan to go there in the old family house, where Dad will leave wife and kids free to romp and relax until late August. In all likelyhood, the offsprings are not vaccinated. That means that in order to be covered for two weeks, Dad has to pay for (2 * 14) / 2 tests: 2 kids, the pass is valid for 48 hours hence the divide by two, 14 days. Should mom not be in possession of a valid reason to have the pass, that would be ( 3 *14) / 2 = 21 tests. In Italy the PCR test costs 60€ and up, so the happy family is 1.260 € the poorer. If only the two kids are without vaccination, it's 840€ tag. But there are talks about setting lower prices through a decree, or something. But given the above, it could conceivably be that the unstated goal would be to keep the younger cohorts reined in, in order to prevent the spread and to reduce the risk of variants and contagion of the 1.6 MILLION citizens in the older cohorts more at risk who are neither vaccinated nor had Covid. And this, folks, is the rub. (Source: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, page 23)

This data is on casualties, but... what it says is, unless you are over 40 your personal risk from Covid is not zero, but not exactly worth writing your last will and testament just yet. It increases fast after that, tough, and it begs the question: after 18 months, why are we STILL enforcing responses aimed at the whole population instead of doing targeted responses? That, Ladies and Gentlemen, remains unanswered.