Lamont: ‘COVID passport’ could come to Connecticut
The private sector could lead an effort to create “some type of passport or validation” system in Connecticut once more residents have received the COVID vaccines, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday.
As the COVID-19 vaccine brings a new normalcy for those who can get a shot, some businesses and states are exploring whether getting vaccinated should be a condition for entry to concerts, restaurants and other venues.
So-called vaccine passports, a QR code that someone can pull up on a smartphone or a paper document they carry to show proof of vaccination, are increasingly being seen as a way for people to safely partake in a post-pandemic society.
Lamont said it’s “a little premature” to be having that discussion, given the vaccine is not yet available to all Connecticut residents but that within a month or two, when the vaccines are “more broadly available,” the governor expects to see “some type of passport or validation” system in Connecticut, “probably led by the private sector.”
New York recently launched the Excelsior Pass, an app that shares vaccination information and negative COVID-19 test results with event, arts and entertainment venues statewide.
Israel’s “green pass” is required for certain activities like going to the gym and attending large indoor events, per the country’s Ministry of Health. And the European Union unveiled a digital certificate program that would allow for summer travel.
The Biden administration is working with private industry to develop a standard for these credentials in the U.S., and Lamont said Monday that adminisitration officials would be hosting a briefing on passport programs Tuesday.
Robert Hecht, professor of clinical epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, sees it as a “central government responsibility” to define how these programs work and keep track of the overall system.
Americans should expect to provide proof of vaccination to travel internationally, Hecht said, particularly in countries that rely on tourism and thus want to avoid large outbreaks within their borders.
Most countries do not have the same access to the vaccine as they U.S. so some may chose to require proof of vaccination to protect their citizens from infection, he said.
Businesses in Connecticut have long anticipated that eventually people would be asked to show proof of getting vaccinated.
“We assumed people would laminate their vaccine cards if they’re not crumpled up,” said Chris DiPentima, president and
So-called vaccine passports, a QR code that someone can pull up on a smartphone or a paper document they carry to show proof of vaccination, are increasingly being seen as a way for people to safely partake in a post-pandemic society.
CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.
While DiPentima hasn’t heard of any specfic business or industries in the state implementing-a vaccine passport program, CBIA has received questions from its members about whether they can require such authentication.
“It’s not just employees, any suppliers or customers who come on site would have to provide proof of vaccination,” he said. “They’re thinking about it but haven’t leapt to the decision.”
When there’s enough vaccine supply to meet demand, “then you’ll see businesses pivot and say now I’m going to mandate or require it,” he said. He expects that to start happening in June.
Until, CBIA is advising it’s members “don’t use it as a stick,” DiPentima said. “Don’t demand it. Use it as a carrot, whether at the employee level with days off, or in some cases companies have offered a monetary incentive.”
As economies reopen, a passport program is one way to instill confidence that it’s safe to travel and participate in events or indoor dining, officials say. But it also raises moral questions about creating two tiers of freedom, especially since getting vaccinated is voluntary, for those who chose to, or can get vaccinated, and those who don’t or can’t.
“A vaccine passport program will only be as equitable as the vaccine distribution has been,” Dr. Yara Asi, with the University of Central Florida, said during a recent interview on WNPR’s Where We Live.
In another indicator of the pandemic’s inequities, the vaccine rollout across the U.S., including Connecticut, has yielded disparate results with shots overwhelmingly going into white arms.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, in recent news reports, said passport programs raise civil rights and racial justice concerns, and could create different access to public places.
In some cases, it could lead to people, such as undocumented immigrants, not to get vaccinated for fear of their information being shared, David McGuire, president of the ACLU of Connecticut, told Fox61 recently.
The ACLU, at large, pushed back against the idea of “immunity passports,” proposed last spring, to allow certain people who test positive for COVID-19 antibodies to return to work before others, saying this kind of system has the potential to “exacerbate racial and economic disparities, and lead to a new health surveillance infrastructure that endangers privacy rights.”
Once vaccine eligibility opens up across the country, that argument
will diminsh, Hecht said.
While there will come a time when transmission of the virus is so low, and so many people are immunized or have antibodies, that these programs are not needed, in the meantime, they are a valuable public health tool, Hecht said.
“For me, the requirement to be vaccinated to have entry to some of the denser settings where risk of transmission is known to be much, much higher, makes sense and is going to be ethically fair and supported once everybody is available to be vaccinated in this country,” he said.
Asked about concerns around private medical information being shared, Hecht said, he sees this kind of information is needed “to the limit number of new infections and to achieve the kind of standards and protection we need for the population.”
“There are ways to keep the information safe so it doesn’t get out to the general public or is misued,” he said.
State Rep. Dave Rutigliano, R-Trumbull, who owns a group of seven restaurants throughout Fairfield and New Haven County, is against the idea. The protocols already in place — such as spacing out tables and mask wearing — are working, he said, and on top of that, restaurants have gotten used to them.
“This is all a confidence game,” he said. “I’m not surprised some of the larger corporations are saying ‘What can we do make our people feel more comfortable?’ That’s one way of playing the confidence game.”
As for his establishments, Rutigliano siad, “I don’t want to put myself or any of my staff in the position of sitting there and checking people’s papers.”