Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed an executive order that bars the usage of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus “vaccine passports,” becoming the first governor in the United States to take action against what civil liberties groups say is a potential privacy nightmare.
The Republican governor’s order comes after unconfirmed reports that the Biden administration could be working on implementing a vaccine passport-type system in the United States, although White House press secretary Jen Psaki later said there is no federal mandate for it but said the administration will “provide guidance” to private companies regarding similar systems.
“Today I issued an executive order prohibiting the use of so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports,” DeSantis wrote in a tweet on Friday. “The Legislature is working on making permanent these protections for Floridians and I look forward to signing them into law soon.”
DeSantis has repeatedly criticized the proposals for vaccine passports. On Monday, the governor said he would forbid local governments and businesses in Florida from requiring vaccine passports, or documents showing one has been vaccinated for the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19.
“No COVID-19 vaccine is required by law,” the governor’s order stated, adding that “vaccination records are private health information” that shouldn’t be shared by a mandate. The passports, he said, would harm individual freedom and harm patient privacy.
