As the United States prepares to open back up after the unnecessarily long COVID lockdowns, the mainstream media is shaping the narrative that “vaccination passports” will not only be required for travel, but that they will arrive as a necessity by this summer.
CBS News travel editor, Peter Greenberg, almost appeared gleeful when he predicted two things: that travel – both domestic and international – would most likely return this summer, and that there would be a prerequisite to being able to travel.
Greenberg stated bluntly that in order to travel you will most likely need proof that you’ve been vaccinated for COVID. Vaccination passports, he said, will be the new standard in travel.
“It will be required,” Greenberg said. “The real question is what technology will be available to create a universally acceptable and universally readable document that can’t be forged.”
A new term has entered the vocabulary among governments and in the travel industry: vaccine passport. In the near future, travel may require proof that passengers have been vaccinated or tested negative for the coronavirus. https://t.co/imfNDCvWAU
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 4, 2021
He noted that preliminary versions of a vaccine passport – or health passport – are being developed by several outlets, in both the public and private sectors – and in some cases a combination of both, around the world.
Greenberg spotlighted the effort taking place in Denmark, pointing out that the Nordic nation is creating a digital passport for citizens that will contain all your current medical information that can be updatable on that digital card.”
The CBS News reporter, speaking with a level of authority usually reserved for higher-level medical professionals intimate with the COVID pandemic, said while digital versions of “your papers” appear to be the goal, early models will likely be physical.
One entrepreneur has come up with two versions of a vaccination passport, one for international travel and another for domestic. The international version has e-vaccine technology that is tantamount to an electronic version of your health records.
His domestic – or basic version (without the e-vaccine technology), he suggests, would be more appropriate for domestic travel and daily interactions. Both versions hold information about which vaccine was administered, where it was administered, and when.
The Times reports that airlines, nonprofits, industry groups and tech companies are all working on launching an app or digital proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test. https://t.co/L9xgwPdApV
— KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO (@KNX1070) February 4, 2021
Greenberg told local reporters that vaccine verification would most likely become commonplace for cruise lines and some airlines as soon as July.
“They’re gonna be asking for it at your point of departure and your point of entry,” Greenberg said. He continued on saying additional places where you might be asked to “show your papers” include airline ticket counters, passport control lanes, and Customs and Border Protection embarkation points.
Lost in the madness to rush to vaccine documentation requirements are existing HIPPA laws and the very issue of privacy.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) created a national standard for protecting sensitive patient information. Included in the Protected Health Information (PHI) are not only your name, social security number, address(es), phone number(s), test results, and diagnoses, but also personal and behavioral attributes that can help anyone – including travel industry companies – single out an individual.
Additionally, the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects against illegal search and seizure, stating clearly:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Curiously, there have been no privacy advocate groups stepping up to challenge the encroachment into the privacy of Americans where the questionable subject of vaccine documentation is concerned.
