__________________
______________________________
__________________
______________________________
HMG-CN OP/ED • April 28, 2021
Editor’s Note: this opinion appeared in the April 23, 2021 print version.
When this pandemic first occurred you could envision, after the virus was conquered, a Star Trek like scan system that would check people for the virus and/or vaccinations; the day will come when affordable walk-through virus detectors, similar to metal detectors, will be invented.
It is not far away, trained dogs can now detect COVID.
For now, the world is contemplating some sort of vaccine passport, Israel already has a robust system, and the EU is planning on doing the same.
But here in the U.S., much like wearing a mask, the idea of showing you have been vaccinated is becoming politicized and could become an all-out war between those that are vaccinated and those that are not.
Of course, several highly-visible Ku Klux Kaucus Republicans have come out against the passport, including Florida Governor Ron “Death Sentence” De Santis, Texas Governor Greg Abbot, and nativist white supremacists Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green and Jim Jordan.
All conspiracy theorists, the New Republicans who jump from one issue to another to garner contributions from ignorant Americans who want to see their “America First.”
That kind of idiocy has hit the California legislature with Republican Kevin Kiley (Rocklin) introducing a bill to ban vaccine passports in California.
President Joe Biden is smartly steering clear of the issue knowing that the business and corporate sector of the United States is going to take care of the problem.
This month, California announced that if venues are going to hold indoor live events, some kind of vaccine check will be required thus incentivizing the industry to require a vaccine passport.
Already there are some sort of requirements by California employers, colleges and others for a passport.
The L.A. Dodgers just this week announced a Vaccine Section, and Hawaii opened up to visitors who can show proof of vaccination.
And why not? It’s a sound business practice.
Where would you want to eat if you had a choice between two of your favorite restaurants, the restaurant that requires a vaccine passport or the other that does not.?
On the other side of the coin where would you want to work, at a business that requires a passport or not?
How about paying a premium on an airline that requires vaccine passports for all passengers?
Or choosing between a big box grocery store that requires a passport while the other does not?
In Europe, you cannot travel without some kind of yellow card showing you’ve been vaccinated, and of course here in the United States you have to show vaccination records for your children to go to school.
But to show that you have been vaccinated for the deadly coronavirus in America, some selfish Americans treat it like Nazi Germany – “show us your papers please.”
Detractors fall on the argument that vaccine passports can be fraudulently duplicated, that is a specious objection, instead of getting a shot someone would pay to get a passport and face criminal penalties?
In 1905, the Supreme Court upheld state laws that require vaccination for communicable diseases. In a 7 to 2 decisions they wrote, “the rights of the individuals… may at times under the pressure of great dangers, be subjected to such restraint, to be enforced by reasonable regulations, as the safety of the general public may demand.
