GOP lawmaker seeks ‘COVID Freedom Act’

Would prohibit requiring proof of vaccination, clamp down on governor’s emergency powers

HARRISBURG — With Pennsylvania in its 14th month of fighting COVID-19, Republican state Rep. Dawn Keefer says she wants to free the state from what she describes as the mistake-riddled approach of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf — and Wolf ’s office calls Keefer’s proposal “dangerous.”

Keefer, of York County, is seeking lawmakers’ support for a proposed “COVID Freedom Act.” It would, among other things, prohibit businesses and sports venues from requiring proof-of-vaccination documents, prevent Wolf from issuing stay-at-home orders, and keep the Capitol open regardless of a declared health emergency.

Keefer said that in Wolf’s long list of actions since the first Pennsylvania COVID-19 cases on March 6, 2020, “there have been a lot of mistakes.”

Wolf and Democrats in the House see it differently.

“Certain Republicans in the Legislature continue to politicize a global public health crisis,” said Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for Wolf. “It is dangerous and will undoubtedly lead to the loss of more lives in the commonwealth.”

Kensinger said Keefer’s concept violated the constitutional separation of powers.

Bill Patton, press secretary for House Democratic leader Joanna McClinton, called the proposal unwise, unneeded and reckless.

“Outside of a few legislators hoping to stir mistrust, nobody here is discussing requiring ‘vaccine passports,’ ” the general description for proof-of-vaccination documents, Patton said.

Keefer’s proposal comes as a group of Senate Republicans led by Kristin Phillips-Hill, also of York County, are preparing to file a bill that would prohibit the use of vaccine passports.

Wolf administration pivots on vaccines

On Friday, the Wolf administration was shifting the public face of its virus response from focusing on vaccine supply to convincing more people to get shots.

Wolf said he planned to get his own first shot of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday at a clinic in York. He called every shot put into the arm of a Pennsylvanian a tiny step toward normality.

“This is the key to our future, these vaccines,” he said.

Asked by a reporter about hundreds of unfilled vaccine appointments in Lebanon County, Wolf said it illustrated a sea change from just a week ago.

“There are open appointments right now. Now think back a week ago, everybody was saying, ‘We can’t get enough vaccine.’ Now, we have too much vaccine, apparently,” he said.

Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said the number of unfilled appointments is concerning because it is an indicator of what she called “vaccine hesitancy.”

A recent Muhlenberg College poll found 31% of respondents do not plan to get the COVID19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, both Wolf and Dr. William Curry, a Penn State Health physician who spoke at an administration press conference in Hershey, said it was not yet clear that the six instances of blood clots in women who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine were actually related to the vaccine.

The state, acting on guidance from the federal government, has temporarily stopped using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine until at least April 24.

On Friday, Beam said one domino effect of that move was a “pause” in the state’s special initiative to vaccinate groups including corrections officers and food and agriculture workers.

Keefer proposal

Keefer’s proposal for a “COVID Freedom Act” includes, among other things:

Among other entities, sports teams, sponsors, ticket sellers and venue operators would not be able to require proof-of-vaccination documents.

Businesses that violate the proposed ban on use of those documents would lose their licenses.

The state Capitol building, which was closed to the public during much of the pandemic, would be required to stay open in future emergencies.

The governor would be prohibited from imposing stayat-home orders.

Republican Rep. Jerry Knowles of Schuylkill County, who signed a memo backing Keefer’s proposal, said he supported it as a way to start discussion.

On so-called vaccine passports, Knowles said, “I don’t want anybody telling me what I have to do and don’t have to do when it comes to my health.”

Asked on Friday about Keefer’s proposal, House Republican Leader Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County offered no specific endorsement and said individual lawmakers’ ideas must be filtered through the legislative process.

He said he had a “good conversation” with Wolf earlier in the week.

“I was pleased that he took my phone call,” said Benninghoff, who along with other Republicans has repeatedly accused Wolf of using a go-it-alone approach to the pandemic.

Northampton testing site

The Department of Health said an outdoor walk-up and drive-thru COVID-19 testing site will open to the public Monday at Life Church, 1451 Northampton St., Easton.

Testing will be available through Friday each day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a maximum of 450 tests per day, the department said.