Q&A: What are vaccine passports, and why do some people hate them so much?
As government-issued documents go, the “COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card” is about as bland as a 1099 from the IRS. The 3-by-4-inch piece of white card stock bears the logo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and contain a few key pieces of information, including the recipient’s name, date of birth, and the type and lot number of the shot administered.
Yet the country is convulsed by a debate over the information it bears and whether it will become the basis for government-issued vaccine passports.
Could such passports dictate where we work and play, whether we can go to school, or how we travel? Who would have the legal authority to issue them or require their use? Is the data that would back them up accurate and secure? Would a system involving vaccine passports be inherently unfair?
The answers to these questions are complicated by the United States’ federalist system, which empowers states and counties to take the lead on policies
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