Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed an emergency order prohibiting vaccine passports in the state. The Republican governor explained that such passports were “completely unacceptable” as they create “two classes of citizens.”
The April 2 mandate signed by DeSantis forbids state organizations or private businesses to demand customers show vaccine passports as a requirement for working or obtaining products and services.
DeSantis elaborated on his opposition to vaccine passports during a March 29 press conference. According to DeSantis, requiring the COVID-19 vaccine passports would create “two classes of citizens based on vaccination.”
“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,” he said.
DeSantis also took a jab at the fact that large corporations were handling vaccine passport data. He voiced out his concern over possible privacy breaches. The governor remarked: “You want the fox to guard the henhouse? Give me a break.”
The governor’s order elicited mixed reactions from lawmakers at the state level.
Republican Rep. Anthony Sabatini commented that he would work to make it a law in Florida at the soonest. “This order is immediate, but must be passed into law. I’ll be fighting to make sure this law passes,” he tweeted.
On the other hand, Democratic Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith pointed out that DeSantis “is creating even more vaccine hesitancy with [the] reckless order.” He noted that the governor signed the measure while he himself had not yet received the vaccine. Smith later called on DeSantis to “get the shot … [and] lead by example” in a tweet.
