Alison O'Connor: Vaccine passports expose line between individual and greater good

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have both already spoken about a 'green digital certificate' to attend events once a person is vaccinated. But the paths taken globally aren't clear 

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar spoke about how 'digital green certificates', along with rapid antigen testing, 'could open the way to resuming hospitality, the arts, and live events safely' although this will probably be a few months away. Picture: Joel Saget/Getty Images

The president of Brown University in the US wrote a letter to her college community this week saying there was every reason to expect the autumn semester there would “look and feel” much more like the one of 2019 than that of last year.

She also wrote that in “Fall 2021”, Brown will require Covid-19 vaccines for all undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. If you haven’t had the jab, you won’t be allowed on campus, unless you qualify for an exemption. Otherwise you study remotely or take a leave of absence, wrote the president of the private Ivy League university.