Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed on Monday to sign an executive order prohibiting the requirement of COVID-19 vaccine passports in the state after it was reported that the Biden administration is developing such credentials for all Americans.
“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,” DeSantis said on Monday.
“You want the fox to guard the henhouse? I mean, give me a break,” he added. “I think this is something that has huge privacy implications. It is not necessary to do.”
Florida will have vaccinated 75% of all senior citizens within the next week, DeSantis said, which means the coronavirus should no longer be a serious threat to Florida residents.
Vaccinating everyone is “important,” DeSantis said, “but at the same time, we are not going to have you provide proof of this just to be able to live your life normally. And I’m going to be taking some action in an executive function and emergency function very shortly.”
The White House said this week that it does not plan on mandating COVID-19 vaccine passports, but several industries are already considering requiring them.
Airlines, concert venues, movie theaters, offices, and even foreign governments could start asking for vaccine credentials, according to CNN.
“The government here is not viewing its role as the place to create a passport, nor a place to hold the data of — of citizens. We view this as something that the private sector is doing and will do,” Andy Slavitt, acting director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki agreed and said the White House’s coronavirus vaccine passports are just meant to be used as “guidelines.”
“Ours will more be focused on guidelines that can be used as a basis. There are a couple key principles that we are working from: one is that there will be no centralized, universal federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credentials,” Psaki explained.
