America Rules Out Vaccine Passports

White House press secretary Jen Psaki further added that the interest is very simple from the federal government, which is American's privacy and rights should be protected so that these systems are not used against people unfairly.

Washington: In a major development, the While House on Tuesday issued a statement, saying it won’t issue ‘vaccine passports’. “The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential. There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

As per updates from CNN, the White House has been clear that it would defer to private companies if they wanted to implement some type of vaccine passport system in which individuals would have to provide proof that they received one of the coronavirus shots.

Psaki further added that the interest is very simple from the federal government, which is American’s privacy and rights should be protected so that these systems are not used against people unfairly.

According to CNN, the federal government will provide guidance about privacy related to the coronavirus vaccines, Psaki said, though she did not provide a timeline.

However, the talk of vaccine passports has sparked pushback among conservatives who have raised concerns about potential government overreach that would discriminate against Americans who opt not to get vaccinated and infringe on their privacy rights.

On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) issued an executive order that prohibits vaccine passports, saying a system to track those who have been inoculated against COVID-19 infringes on citizens’ rights, CNN reported.

“Government should not require any Texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives,” Abbott said in a statement.

Abbott’s order came after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) vowed to take executive action to prevent companies from requiring vaccine passports before providing services to customers.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization on Tuesday cautioned that the use of vaccine passports may not be an effective way to reopen global travel, citing the lack of vaccinations in certain pockets of the world.

(With inputs from ANI)