Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will be taking executive action against “vaccine passports.”
The Biden administration is working with private companies to develop a way to verify Americans have been vaccinated against COVID, also known as “vaccine passports.”
“You want the fox to guard the henhouse? I mean, give me a break. I think this is something that has huge privacy implications. It is not necessary to do. We’re going to have hit 3.5 million seniors that have gotten shots sometime this week, likely 75% of seniors” DeSantis said on Monday.
He added, “It’s important to be able to do it 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, emergency function here very shortly.”
Watch his comments below:
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) says he’ll be taking executive action against “vaccine passports” over privacy concerns:
— The Recount (@therecount) March 29, 2021
“You want the fox to guard the hen house? I mean, give me a break.” pic.twitter.com/99ZPY9K8AW
DeSantis previously called the passports a “very, very bad idea.” He explained, “Look, if you want to go to a movie theater or a concert or all this stuff, go. If you don’t, don’t. But, to require someone to show some type of proof of vaccination is completely unacceptable. It’s not something we are going to support here in any way.”
According to The Washington Post, the initiative is largely been led by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The White House this month reportedly “took on a bigger role coordinating government agencies involved in the work, led by coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients.”
During a March 12 briefing, Zients said, “Our role is to help ensure that any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect people’s privacy.”
Americans are expected to be able to access passports through applications for smartphones. Those who do not have access to a smartphone should be able to print the passports.
The Biden administration has identified at least 17 passport initiatives this month.