Certified Coronavirus Immunity as a Resource and a Way Back to Normality
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VIVES
BRIEFING
2020/01
Certified Coronavirus
Immunity as a Resource
and a Way Back to
Normality
David Stadelmann*, Reiner Eichenberger**, Rainer Hegselmann***,
David Savage**** and Benno Torgler*****
*University of Bayreuth, Germany, Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society
and technology (BEST), Centre for Research in Economics, Management and
the Arts (CREMA) and associated researcher of VIVES, KU Leuven
**University of Fribourg, Switzerland and CREMA - Center for Research in
Economics, Management and the Arts
***Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Germany
****University of Newcastle, Australia and Centre for Behavioral Econmics,
Society and Technology (BEST)
*****School of Economics and Finance and Center for Behavioural Econom-
ics, Society and Technology (BEST), Queensland University of Technology
We would like to thank Gerd Folkers, Marco Frank, Bruno Frey, Christian Girardi, Raymond Frem-
pong, Anna Maria Koukal, Alison Macintyre, Simon Milligan, Florian Mitscherlich, Thomas
Ochsenkühn, Jan Osterloh, Margit Osterloh, Katja Rost, Patricia Schafer and Frederik Wild for
important discussions. The editors publish short articles together with experienced coauthors
which propose robust solutions to large-scale societal problems requiring a combination of in-
sights from social sciences.CERTIFIED CORONAVIRUS IMMUNITY AS A RESOURCE
2 VIVES BRIEFING 2020/01
AND A WAY BACK TO NORMALITY
As a result of the Corona crisis we are all living As the number of immune people grows, re-
in a state of emergency. But we are desperate strictions on all but the most vulnerable can be
to get back to normal quickly. Some people are gradually relaxed. Those who are already im-
losing hope and the economic costs of lock- mune could go back to their economic and so-
down measures increase rapidly. However, as cial activity immediately and could even provide
the disease spreads, the crucial resource for active support to the health care system. Their
overcoming the crisis is growing as well. That engagement and contribution to society and the
resource are people who are immune to Co- economy would reduce the risk of overburden-
rona. This vital resource must be employed ef- ing the health care system and would reduce
fectively, it must be certified, it must the potential for an economic and social break-
be searched for, it must be found, and it may down. The resource of immune people is al-
even be actively produced. How can this be ready much greater than we know: All those
done? who have been infected with the virus are im-
mune, but many may not have even realized
CORONA IMMUNITY AS A GROWING RE- that they had the disease (asymptomatic
SOURCE cases). Consequently, they have never been
It seems generally accepted that in most cases tested.
the course of the COVID-19 disease is mild, of-
Employ immune people
ten resulting in no or few symptoms. The prob-
Immune people can be reinstated to all activities
ability of full recovery is high for many people,
and can pursue all social contacts as usual.
especially for younger people and those without
More importantly they may voluntarily commit to
previous illnesses. Those who have survived
help in the care of the elderly and the sick with-
the disease are, according to current
out endangering especially those people who
knowledge, largely immune. The probability of
are at risk. Such examples already exist: The
contracting exactly same virus a second time
U.S. Rand Paul had coronavirus and has now
within a few years and passing the disease on
recovered. He started volunteering at a hospital.
is small compared to a first illness.
The quickest possible and most comprehensive
There are now already millions of people who engagement of immune people is therefore sen-
have been infected with the Coronavirus and sible from a public health, an economic, and a
who are now immune. Their immunity makes social perspective. Their employment is neces-
each of them individually a valuable resource in sary for our society to return to normality.
the fight against the virus, a resource that grows
as the number of people infected increases. An- Issue immunity certificates
tibodies from immune people might even be To make full use of their power, people with im-
used to produce blood serum as a potential munity must once again be able to move freely,
treatment. Moreover, from a societal perspec- without any restriction and without fear. To do
tive, the larger the stock of persons with immun- so, they must know for sure that they are im-
ity, the lower the risk of infection for the elderly mune, and other people must be able to distin-
and those with pre-existing medical conditions. guish them from the non-immune. That is whyCERTIFIED CORONAVIRUS IMMUNITY AS A RESOURCE
3 VIVES BRIEFING 2020/01
AND A WAY BACK TO NORMALITY
they need a reliable immunity certificate for Find immune people
proving immunity which can be based on having
The value of the immunity certificate facilitates
antibodies or having experienced the illness.
the search for people who are already immune.
This immunity certificate serves as a kind of
Those who are certified immune no longer need
“passport” to normality and certifies the value of
be anxious about the disease, nor do they need
the resource. Such certificates should not only
to remain in isolation as they resume a reason-
be given to the domestic population, but coro-
ably normal life. This systematically provides in-
navirus immune doctors, nurses, helpers or
centives for healthy people who may have been
travelers from other countries should also be
infected to think about whether they may have
certified accordingly.
had mild symptoms of the disease, such as loss
Search for immune people of smell and taste. Active cooperation with au-
thorities to obtain the immunity certificate be-
Like other valuable resources, people immune
comes particularly rewarding. The same applies
from the novel coronavirus must be sought out,
to patients with mild symptoms, who are cur-
and this requires broad administration of tests.
rently suffering from fears of stigmatization, pre-
Testing is not only about identifying virus carri-
venting self-identification as potentially sick.
ers in order to protect society; it must also be
about the fact that immune people can help to Produce immune people
save society. On the one hand, tests for viruses
Like other resources, immunity may even be ac-
can be used to identify people who are currently
tively produced. Individuals may want to seek
infected and who are then known to be immune
immunity voluntarily (under medical supervi-
around two weeks after infection when potential
sion) through self-infection. Self-infection can
symptoms and infectiousness have subsided.
be managed and organized by public or private
On the other hand, tests for antibodies can be
health service providers and supported, if nec-
used to find people who have never been tested
essary, by regulatory rules. Thus, the produc-
– but were infected and had no symptoms of the
tion of immunity can potentially be organized
disease – and are now already immune. These
without any major externalities, and actively in-
people do not yet know about their immunity.
creasing immunity can help in the fight against
Since the test capacity is still small today de-
a pandemic.
spite rapid growth in facilities, the first step is to
search for immunity in infection hotspots. Tests
CONCLUSION AND IMPLEMENTATION
for antibodies are already approved and they
are in use. Over time, better and better tests will Until a truly effective treatment or vaccination is
be introduced and mass production is possible. available, already immune people are the cru-
Searches may be conducted worldwide to find cial resource in the fight against Corona. This is
and certify immune people. true even under substantial uncertainty; moreo-
ver, it holds if current government measures are
relaxed for the general population because of
their enormous economic and social costs, or if
we see a substantial downward assessment ofCERTIFIED CORONAVIRUS IMMUNITY AS A RESOURCE
4 VIVES BRIEFING 2020/01
AND A WAY BACK TO NORMALITY
the health dangers of Corona for the general REFERENCES
population. After all, Corona is certainly danger-
Eichenberger, R., Hegselmann, R. & Stadel-
ous for the elderly and for people with health
mann, D. (March 21, 2020). "Corona-Immunität
problems. Immunity certificates do not neces-
als entscheidende Ressource: Der Weg zurück
sarily have to be issued by European or an in-
in die Normalität", Beiträge zur aktuellen Wirt-
ternational authority. Individual regional author-
schaftspolitik No. 2020-03, Center for Research
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in Economics, Management and the Arts
gions can issue immunity certificates inde-
(Switzerland)
pendently of each other. Trustworthy authorities
can then accept immunity certificates mutually. Eichenberger, Reiner, Hegselmann, Rainer &
In particular, nation states can issue immunity Stadelmann, David (April 03, 2020). "Zertifi-
certificates not only for their immune citizens but zierte Corona-Immunität als entscheidende
also for foreigners. Immunity certificates may al- Ressource: Eine überlegene und robuste Exit-
ways be relevant for people who travel a lot do- Strategie", Beiträge zur aktuellen Wirtschafts-
mestically or internationally. Understanding im- politik No. 2020-07, Center for Research in Eco-
mune people as a resource is therefore essen- nomics, Management and the Arts (Switzer-
tial and will enable a faster return to normality land)
from the current crisis. Eichenberger, R., Hegselmann, R., Savage D.,
Stadelmann, D. & Torgler, B. (2020). "Certified
Corona-Immunity as a Resource and Strategy
to Cope with Pandemic Costs", Kyklos, forth-
coming, DOI: 10.1111/kykl.12227
Stadelmann, D., Eichenberger, R., Hegselman,
R., Savage, D. and Torgler, B. (2020). “Certified
Corona-Immunity as a resource and a way back
to normality”, Observer Research Foundation
Expert Speak, April 5, 2020CERTIFIED CORONAVIRUS IMMUNITY AS A RESOURCE
5 VIVES BRIEFING 2020/01
AND A WAY BACK TO NORMALITY
VLAAMS I NSTITUUT VOOR ECONOMIE EN SAMENLEVING
VLAMINGENSTRAAT 83 - BUS 3550
3000 LEUVEN, BELGIË
David Stadelmann
University of Bayreuth, Germany
& Associated Researcher of VIVES, KU Leuven
david.stadelmann@uni-bayreuth.de
Reiner Eichenberger
Universtität Freiburg, Switzerland
reiner.eichenberger@unifr.ch
Rainer Hegselmann
Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany
m.konopnicka@fs.de
David Savage
Newcastle Business School
david.savage@newcastle.edu.au
Benno Torgler
Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology, QUT, Australia
benno.torgler@qut.edu.au
The VIVES Briefings are set up to fuel the debate on the economic and social development of regions. They
do this by means of short contributions from their own and affiliated researchers. The briefings are mostly
based on ongoing fundamental research.
An electronic version of the briefings is available on the VIVES website:
https://feb.kuleuven.be/VIVES/vivesenglish/publications/briefingsYou can also read
