Vaccine passports have been a hot topic of debate since New York unveiled the nation’s first Excelsior Pass, which would provide COVID-19 vaccine information and test results for New Yorkers going about their daily business. But other states have argued against the move, calling it a violation of privacy and saying it would divide citizens into two groups of people based on personal health info. Leaders have even referred it to China’s social credit score system. While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was one of the first political leaders to openly ban the use of vaccine passports, other states have followed in his footsteps.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also issued an executive order against vaccine passports from being used in his state and argued that they could be used to stop Americans from attending social events and traveling. He called this a “tread on our personal freedoms,” as well being in violation of our constitutional rights and health privacy laws.
“Government should not require any Texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives. That is why I have issued an Executive Order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas. We will continue to vaccinate more Texans and protect public health,” Gov. Abbott said.
Texas has been experiencing a steady decline in COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations since stripping restrictions and mask mandates. For the first time in a year, Texas businesses were able to make their own decisions. They could allow to open and operate at 100% capacity or require masks and restrict occupancy. While Dr. Anthony Fauci and President Joe Biden warned against this move and said it would cause a “massive COVID surge,” the state has not seen anything but declining numbers still.
With states reopening and travel resuming, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also spoke out against the issue of vaccine passports. He said issuing vaccine passports to move freely within the country was the “wrong approach” and that the vaccines have always been the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for worrisome citizens. He said it points to the true philosophical differences between the Biden administration and Republican governors across America.
“They believe that the central government should make all decisions for us. We believe that individual Americans ought to make the decision. They believe that Washington knows best. We believe that individual Americans know best. And the fact is that the numbers in our state simply do not justify the overreach of government,” Gov. Reeves said.
Gov. Reeves also lifted all state-imposed COVID-19 restrictions and mandates in the state of Mississippi. The number of cases and hospitalization rates have continued to decline throughout the weeks and as Gov. Reeves pointed out, it is because more Mississippians are getting the vaccine. Just because cases are rising in New York and New Jersey does not mean there is a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the pandemic.
South Carolina lawmakers are also pushing Gov. Henry McMaster to ban vaccine passports in their state. A group of House Republicans wrote a letter to McMaster pointing out that vaccine passports restrict commerce and are a threat to both personal liberty and medical privacy. They said that the privacy concerns regarding the vaccine passport would also impede on the efforts to “achieve herd immunity,” which would inevitably prolog the pandemic.
“As we see it, ‘vaccine passports’ are a terrible approach to managing this pandemic or the economy and instead will violate the rights of our citizens. We urge you to fight against this with every tool of state government, including preventing state agencies from cooperating or coordinating with the federal government on the use of potential ‘vaccine passports,’” the letter reads.
Any sort of documentation or proof of vaccination to gain access to or receive service from a business is the Democrat’s agenda – and has no place in America. The radical left wants you to carry around medical proof of a vaccination to eat in a restaurant but doesn’t care if you have proper identification to cast a vote on a ballot.
