I have been observing that the Biden administration is rapidly distancing itself from the entire covid pandemic experience, especially elements it thrust upon mostly unwilling Americans.
I will also note with interest that California Governor Gavin Newsom has also been doing much the same covid-era erasing himself.
Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent has taken another action in rolling back covid policies: It has stopped printing the covid vaccination cards.
It’s the end of an era for a once-critical pandemic document: The ubiquitous white COVID-19 vaccination cards are being phased out.Now that COVID-19 vaccines are not being distributed by the federal government, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped printing new cards.The federal government shipped more than 980 million cards between late 2020, when the first vaccines came out, through May 10, according to the latest available data from the CDC.Federal and local health officials don’t expect the discontinuation of the cards to be a particularly big change, since the days of keeping them tucked in purses and wallets to ensure entry into festivals, bars and restaurants are largely over. If you’ve held on to your card, it’s still valid as proof of vaccination. Otherwise, people who need their COVID-19 immunization records will need to request them just like any other vaccine.
The cards arguably represented the first phase of American experimentation with “social credit” distribution and record-keeping.
In summer 2021, as officials began lifting lockdown restrictions on public venues, the paper cards took on extra meaning, becoming a ticket in some areas to social gatherings and to some international travel. Much like keys and IDs, they were a constant companion, flashed in front of bars, restaurants and concert venues that required them for entry. But the benefits they offered also raised questions of whether it would cause divisions in society between those were vaccinated and those who were not.In some communities, gyms mandated them to enroll in group classes, and sports stadiums added sections for the vaccinated. Airlines and cruise companies asked to see the cards before travelers could visit certain countries.And they created a market for opportunists: Scammers forged or stole copies of the cards, selling them illegally for up to $60 a piece. Other enterprising minds, cognizant that the 3-by-4-inch cards were slightly too awkward to fit unfolded in a wallet, came up with protective cardholders, both functional and bedazzled.The paper pass became increasingly outdated in the United States and abroad as digital health passes replaced them. And as travel restrictions were lifted in most places — the United States stopped requiring proof of vaccination for international travelers this May — even the digital health passes have largely been phased out.
The mass vaccination campaign and the associated documentation did nothing to stop the spread or end the pandemic associated with a readily transmissible airborne virus.
The compliance experiment has now ended. I shudder to think about what the bureaucrats, politically powerful, and rich technocrats have learned for use in future projects.
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