Last week, embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced New York is launching “vaccine passports” for citizens to show digital proof they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to gain entry to events and businesses.
President Joe Biden’s COVID team apparently considered an electronic test-and-trace program that would allow businesses to deny service to potential patrons based on their health data, according to a report from The Washington Free Beacon.
From the outlet:
The system resembles the one being used in China, where a mandatory app gives each user a “health status”—green, yellow, or red—that dictates access to public spaces. The University of Illinois app likewise divides users into three categories: “yellow” if they’ve recently tested negative, “orange” if they’ve potentially been exposed, and “red” if they’ve recently tested positive. Only students with a yellow status may enter buildings.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said federal agencies are working to establish “guidelines” for “vaccine passports,” but indicated they will be led by the private sector rather than the government.
Psaki told reporters that any system designed to verify a person’s vaccination against COVID-19 meets “high standards, whether that’s universal accessibility, affordability, [or] availability.”
Former Rep. Justin Amash (L-Mich.) pushed back against the idea of a “vaccine passport,” explaining on Twitter it is different from the vaccines already required for schools.
“A ‘vaccine passport’ is not ‘what we already do,’” he tweeted. “It’s not proof of vaccination for [international] travel or schooling. It’s proof of vaccination for everyday living — groceries, restaurants, movies. It’s disingenuous to conflate the former with the latter.”
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“Libertarians can believe something is a bad idea even when done by a private actor (individual or business),” Amash added. “There’s no inconsistency in believing a private actor has the right to do something but shouldn’t.”
The ultimate danger, the former lawmaker warned, is that he doesn’t believe the government will “stop at COVID or vaccinations.”
As news of potential “vaccine passports” spread, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rising star in the conservative movement, said he will ban such verification requirements in the Sunshine State.
“We are not supporting doing any vaccine passports in the state of Florida,” he told reporters Monday. “It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society.”
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“You want to go to a movie theater, should you have to show that?” DeSantis asked. “No. You want to go to a game, should you have to show that? No. You want to go to a theme park? No. We’re not supportive of that.”
All of this comes as other countries around the world are introducing required “vaccine passports,” Business Insider reported.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, projected panic Monday, telling Americans she believes the U.S. is facing “impending doom” even as some 30% of U.S. citizens have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination.
Furthermore, Biden said this week states should stop their efforts to reopen.