Covid-19: The United States will not require a coronavirus vaccination passport

The White House ruled out Tuesday that it will create a federal vaccination passport or require that Americans be immunized against the coronavirus covid-19 acquire a specific credential, an idea that has generated deep divisions in the country.

“The Government does not support now, and we will not support, a system that requires Americans to carry a credential,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said during her daily press conference.

“There will be no federal database on vaccinations, and no federal mandate that requires everyone to obtain a unique vaccination credential.”he added.

The spokeswoman left the door open for the private sector to develop its own models of vaccination passports, as several companies in the country are already doing, but insisted that the Government will not get involved in them or support any specific one.

“Our interest from the federal government is very simple: that the privacy and rights of Americans are protected, that these systems are not used against people in an unfair way”, he claimed.

Psaki acknowledged that “there is a movement in the private sector to identify ways to return to events” with large crowds, and stressed that the only role of the White House will be to provide information on the rights of citizens.

The government will soon publish a “frequently asked questions” document that Americans will be able to consult to answer questions about “privacy, security and discrimination,” he said.

The idea of ​​creating a vaccination passport has met with strong resistance from conservatives in the United States, who are generally opposed to the broad and universal mandates of the federal government, and who fear that it could harm those who have not been able or They have not wanted to be inoculated against covid-19.

The Republican governors of Texas and Florida have already banned the requirement for vaccination passports in their respective states, in order to avoid creating “two classes of citizens,” in the words of the leader of the second of those territories, Ron DeSantis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday insisted on its doubts about the issuance of vaccination certificates against covid-19, recalling that it is not yet known “to what level vaccines reduce transmission” of the disease, and it could lead to discrimination.

However, the use of vaccination certificates is advancing in regions such as the European Union, where this type of document is expected to be ready before the summer, and the airlines also ask for its implementation to reactivate air transport, greatly affected by the pandemic.