Experts say that Americans should expect “vaccine passports” very soon.
The government isn’t going to take your word for it; it wants proof in the form of legal documentation. The vaccine passports are likely to ensure the safety of those who want to spend time inside without a mask. Some states are completely against the “passport” idea that could block a person from shopping at certain places or traveling.
States that oppose vaccine “passports” include Alaska, Idaho, Florida, Montana, Texas, and others. Many of them have already started to ban “vaccine passports,” and others have mentioned that they do not want to entertain the idea for any type of program similar to the vaccine passport proposal.
“The residents of our state should not be required by the government to share their private medical information. … Vaccination is up to each individual, not the government,” Doug Ducey, Arizona’s Republican governor, said in a statement in April. On the opposite end, Republicans claim vaccine passports will create a hierarchy amongst Americans. “Vaccine passports create different classes of citizens,” said GOP Idaho Gov. Brad Little.
But experts say this isn’t the first time Americans have been expected to provide proof of vaccination. “It’s not a new idea that you would document whether or not you’ve been vaccinated and share that information at certain points,” said Rebecca Fielding-Miller, a professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health at the University of California, San Diego. “This is something we already do,” she said.
