Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an order on Friday prohibiting the state issuance of “vaccine passports,” documentation meant to prove that an individual has been inoculated against COVID-19.
The order is a follow-through on a promise DeSantis made on Monday that he would take action to prohibit a vaccine passport system from being instituted in the state.
“We are not supporting doing any vaccine passports in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “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.”
Today I issued an executive order prohibiting the use of so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports. The Legislature is working on making permanent these protections for Floridians and I look forward to signing them into law soon. Read my EO here – https://t.co/6QwLsLWEWm
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 2, 2021
DeSantis promised to issue the order in light of news that the Biden administration is working on a plan to provide for such credentials, though White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted on Monday that the White House would not push a vaccine passport program.
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“A determination or development of vaccine passports, or whatever you want to call it, will be driven by the private sector,” Psaki said, continuing, “Ours will more be focused on guidelines that can be used as a basis.”
DeSantis’s Friday order reads: “No Florida government entity, or its subdivisions, agents, or assigns, shall be permitted to issue vaccine passports, vaccine passes, or other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination status to a third party.”
It also prevents businesses from requiring proof of vaccination “to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business.” The order makes eligibility for grants or contracts funded through state revenue dependent upon compliance.
DeSantis is not the only state Republican official who opposes vaccine passports. Lawmakers in Ohio are currently pushing a bill to prohibit them. A group of Republican state senators in Pennsylvania also plan to introduce a bill to prohibit Gov. Tom Wolf from implementing a passport program.
“First and foremost, vaccine passports have no place in a free society,” said state Rep. Mike Loychik, one of the Ohio bill’s sponsors. “Simultaneously, while everyone has a right to get a vaccine, a massive adoption of vaccine passports, both across our state and nation, would only lead to a slow economic recovery and further hinder businesses as we all seek to get back to normal.”
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New York state recently rolled out its own vaccine passport system, a digital app called “Excelsior Pass,” that can offer proof of a coronavirus vaccination or recent negative COVID-19 test.
