Texas Gov. Abbott Bans State Agencies From Issuing Vaccine Passports
We will continue to vaccinate more Texans and protect public health — and we will do so without treading on Texans’ personal freedoms.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest executive order bans state agencies from issuing a COVID-19 vaccine passport or requiring proof of vaccination.
He said: “Everyday, Texans are returning to normal life as more people get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. But, as I’ve said all along, these vaccines are always voluntary and never forced. Government should not require any Texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives. That is why I have issued an Executive Order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas. We will continue to vaccinate more Texans and protect public health — and we will do so without treading on Texans’ personal freedoms.”
Texans shouldn't be required to show proof of vaccination & reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives.
I issued an Executive Order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas.
Don't tread on our personal freedoms. pic.twitter.com/weTbz4FKyH
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 6, 2021
I like this one more than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s executive order because it covers public entities. DeSantis’s EO covered anyone. If a private business wants to require proof then so be it. You don’t like it then go somewhere else.
HOWEVER. There is a catch in Abbott’s EO:
Any public or private entity that is receiving or will receive public funds through any means, including grants, contracts, loans, or other disbursements of taxpayer money, shall not require a consumer to provide, as a condition of receiving any service or entering any place, documentation regarding the consumer’s vaccination status for any COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization. No consumer may be denied entry to a facility financed in whole or in part by public funds for failure to provide documentation regarding the consumer’s vaccination status for any COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization.
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Comments
“I like this one more than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s executive order because it covers public entities. DeSantis’s EO covered anyone. If a private business wants to require proof then so be it.”
I respectfully disagree. With woke capitalism all the rage, you are essentially saying give us vaccine passports. And whiles it’s fine to boycott MLB, this is has the potential to become so pervasive and evil it’s crazy not to oppose this full force …
– this can keep you from returning to work
– deny you access to critical services or drive hours for the same
– vaccine passports effectively discriminate against certain classes such as the immunocompromised
– there are no practical meaningful risks to a vaccinated person returning to work if not vaccinated people show up at work – even if you catch it, the chance of being hospitalized or having a serious illness is zero percent
– if you let a zero percent risk drive mandatory edicts, there will be no end of these things
– they won’t go away and will encompass lots of other behaviors
The time to draw the line in the sand is now. As always, DeSantis is a warrior that gets it and Abbott is good, but not nearly as good.
Mary could you please convince me to accept your views on a private entity having access to my medical information either as in raw data or summery such as a QR code?
I would be interested in what limiting principles you would apply if any. Some examples of my concerns:
Once this is in place for Rona will it transition to being vaccinated every flu season?
I have opted out of the leash of a cell phone what alternate method(s) will be both practical and acceptable substitutes?
Can I have access to the same technology and screen for entry onto my property; the guy who reads my utility meter? Other visitors?
Will the data be secure? Who will ensure that? What are the penalties for my data being disclosed/hacked/used for unapproved purposes?
Under what legal authority can a public accommodation refuse service for what should be, in your opinion, a private action v one under force of law?
Our military database was hacked some years ago. The Government did nothing except let us know that some foreign entity has our personal information. Of course the information is not secure, and of course nothing will be done when it is once again compromised.
I would think a challenge that relied on HIPAA would send a strong message but would the judiciary rise to the occasion?
Nah, they’ll find some justification hiding in the umbras and penumbras to allow an apartheid state to develop based on vaxx status. Because OMG we’re all gonna die unless everyone gets the cooties shot.
So that would mean public schools and Universities cannot require students to show proof of COVID Vaccine until it has been fully vetted and approved under normal rules.
It will be interesting to see which big company wants to take the publicity hit by launching a lawsuit to quash these EOs.
Nobody should expect masks to go away once the government stops requiring them, if ever. I guarantee Home Depot, Publix, Walmart, and the like will keep their signs and mask policies in place.
“reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives.”
He’s absolutely right, of course. Why isn’t someone attacking this idea as being abhorrent to HIPAA?
And by the way, the public/private argument is all well and good, but compare this to HIPAA, where I’m not seeing any exemption that allows private corporations to violate it any more than anyone else. So if the state wants to play that game, it’s a two-edged sword.