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We propose an “ethical precautionary principle” in response to how governments should restart the economy from this pandemic. We define an ethical precautionary principle as a strategy used when approaching potential ethical harm under conditions where extensive scientific knowledge and data are lacking. In this situation, we propose an antibody certification process to identify those individuals who could safely return to work even though this process may violate ethical rights of privacy and confidentiality. Those with low or no titers of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, will not be allowed to return to work until there is herd immunity or they are vaccinated.
Presumably, there will be extensive diagnostic testing of our population to establish who has sufficient protective antibody titers against SARS-CoV-2. In the short term, an in vitro test that measures neutralizing anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may be sufficient to estimate what ...
