The White House claimed that it expected the private sector to take the lead in the verification of the COVID-19 vaccine passports. It would not issue a federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.
The Biden Administration is currently reviewing the issues and would make recommendations, claimed the White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki. She also said that the White House was leading an inter-agency process looking into these issues, and would provide guidance as per the key principles.
She also clarified that Americans will not be required to carry any such credential to support their vaccination. Moreover, she added that there will be no centralized, universal vaccination database, and there will be no such ruling that requires residents to acquire a vaccination certificate.
Furthermore, she added that the federal government wants to encourage an open marketplace with different private organizations and non-profit coalitions coming up with solutions.
She also ensured that the Biden Administration would work to streamline the whole process to ensure that all vaccination credential systems met the standards such as universal accessibility, affordability, and availability.
It is important to note that the Republicans are preemptively against the idea of a vaccine passport. For instance, two Ohio legislators have claimed that they were contemplating the idea of drafting a bill that will ban the use of such passports due to the invasion of privacy.
However, Fauci has mentioned that he doesn’t completely condemn the idea of confirming if someone is vaccinated. In his podcast with Politico, he stated that schools and large-scale businesses can put up a mandatory requirement of a vaccination certificate that would be needed upon entrance. Whatever the case may be, the vaccine passport is not going to be authorized by the federal government.
