Florida Gov. DeSantis bans agencies and businesses from requiring vaccine passports
By zoeysky // 2021-04-16
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an emergency order banning coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine passports on April 2, preventing all state-run organizations and private businesses from demanding that their staff or customers show a vaccine passport to work there or gain services. In a March 29 press conference at the Florida State Capitol, DeSantis talked about the emergency order that would ban the vaccine passports. He announced that they would not support any vaccine passports in Florida. While the vaccine was made available to those who wanted to sign up for it, DeSantis clarified that it was "provided for all, mandated for none." He acknowledged that health experts recommended people who are at greater risk of getting infected with the coronavirus to get vaccinated, but insisted that the state of Florida would allow citizens to decide for themselves if they wanted to get the jab. Taking coronavirus vaccines "will never be mandated," continued DeSantis. The Republican governor condemned the idea of vaccine passports, saying that it is "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 that Florida doesn't support the idea and that people have "certain and individual liberties to make decisions for themselves." He emphasized the danger of the vaccine passports, which would give corporations access to sensitive data and have "huge privacy implications." (Related: Florida governor bans vaccine passports, as they create TWO CLASSES of citizens.)

Vaccine passports will create "two classes of citizens based on vaccination"

DeSantis announced that he will work with the Legislature to make the ban on vaccine passports permanent. The vaccine passport ban would be specific to coronavirus vaccines used under the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) emergency use authorization. DeSantis commented that schools' and universities' typical vaccination requirements against measles and other diseases are different and that they would be unaffected. "Requiring so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports for taking part in everyday life — such as attending a sporting event, patronizing a restaurant, or going to a movie theater — would create two classes of citizens based on vaccination," said DeSantis. Giving people with vaccine passports special privileges will most likely favor demographics that "are inoculated at higher rates." In Western countries like America, these tend to be white and affluent. Aside from widening an already large divide between the classes, enforcing vaccine passports can also significantly affect an already suffering employment rate in the country. Nicole A. Errett, a public health expert from the University of Washington, warned that if countries would start requiring vaccine passports before allowing citizens to do different things, communities that have been hit hard by the pandemic would continue to be "left behind." Enforcement is another problem, said Halima Begum, who runs Runnymede Trust, a British racial equity organization. The issuance of vaccine passports could quickly lead to a situation that creates "discrimination, prejudice and stigma," Begum said. Inequality among nations could be another hurdle, particularly for international travel. With certain exceptions, the approved coronavirus vaccines were usually distributed among nations that could afford to buy or produce them. This means the world's poorest could be two or three years out, with citizens from poorer countries less likely to travel across borders. There were also billions in the middle who "have the means to travel, and sometimes the need," but with no access to vaccines. Visit MedicalTyranny.com to learn more about vaccine passports and what concerned politicians like DeSantis are doing to protect their citizens. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk NPR.org NYTimes.com
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