Vaccine passports needed before Gov. Newsom’s reckless reopening

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s move to reopen the state by June 15 must be accompanied by a vaccine passport system that ensures public gatherings don’t become venues for spreading coronavirus.

Sadly, about 25% of adults nationally say they’ll refuse the vaccine. And about 20% of Californians still insist they will probably or definitely not get it. However misguided, that’s their right. But it’s not their right to put the rest of us at risk of a statewide COVID-19 resurgence when the governor lifts restrictions in two months.

Ironically, some of the loudest political pressures pushing Newsom to reopen the state are coming from people who also resist inoculation. They can’t have it both ways. If they want to attend large gatherings, they must get vaccinated.

And California needs a way to quickly ascertain at public events who has been inoculated and who hasn’t. Airlines are developing a system for passengers. New York has rolled out its “Excelsior Pass.” And vaccinated Israeli citizens receive a “Green Pass” — a digital passport for entry into gyms, cultural events, wedding halls and concerts.

Here in California, with the help of vaccines, we are making tremendous progress slowing the spread of COVID-19. But nationally cases and hospitalizations are on the rise. And cases are surging while deaths are rising again around the world, much of which is years away from meaningful levels of vaccination.

Of course, the greater the national and global spread, the more opportunities for the virus to mutate and the greater the number of resulting variants, some of which are more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines.

Earlier this week, Healthy Davis Together and UC Davis announced the detection of the South African variant of COVID-19. And, during Tuesday’s Yolo County Board of Supervisors meeting, Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson told the board that she had recently been informed by the California Department of Health of another case of the variant within the county.

“That variant is associated with 50% increase in infectiousness and in the laboratory it looks like there’s some resistance to vaccines,” Sisson said. “Although we don’t know how that plays out in the real world with the vaccines.”

Sisson noted that Pfizer has released information that says their vaccines are still effective against the B.1.351 variant.

Newsom on April 1 expressed justifiable concern about the danger of mutations. But five days later, in another of the governor’s coronavirus flip-flops, he declared that California could return to normal by June 15.

Provided vaccines are widely available and hospital COVID-19 cases remain low, restaurants, bars, stores, movie theaters and museums will be allowed to open at full capacity, indoors and outside. Even conventions up to 5,000 people will be permitted.

Newsom on April 1 expressed justifiable concern about the danger of mutations. But five days later, in another of the governor’s coronavirus flipflops, he declared that California could return to normal by June 15.

It’s reckless. It might meet the governor’s political agenda for fighting the recall, but it’s devoid of reality about the coronavirus. Setting aside the irrationality of Newsom’s misguided pandering, if he is going to set a target date, he has an obligation to mitigate the risk. That must include a vaccination verification system.

There are legitimate equity issues that need to be addressed. For example, California’s Latino community makes up nearly 40% of the population and 56% of COVID-19 infections but just 22% of vaccinations received so far, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The solution is not to make matters worse by opening public venues without a system for vetting who is vaccinated. The solution is to fix the underlying equity problem by ensuring the most-vulnerable communities have access to vaccines. And, to be clear, no vaccine passport system should be used as a barrier to obtaining health care, groceries or other essentials of daily life.

If Newsom is hellbent on reopening the state, he must do so with at least a modicum of responsibility. That includes vaccine passports. Jeopardizing the progress we’ve made for political expediency is unacceptable.