Big government has received a slap on the wrist! First from Florida, but now Texas. The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, issued an executive order banning any form of proof of vaccination before being allowed to travel.
“Every day, Texans return to normalcy as more people get the COVID vaccine. In fact, this week, Texas will surpass 13 million doses administered,” Abbott said in a Tuesday video announcement. “Those shots help slow the spread of COVID, reduce hospitalizations, and reduce fatalities.”
“But, as I have said all along, these vaccines are always voluntary and never forced. Government should not require any Texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives,” the governor continued. “That is why I issued an executive order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas. We will continue to vaccinate more Texans and protect public health and we will do so without treading on Texans’ personal freedoms.” The Daily Wire posted.
Sound on: pic.twitter.com/UgrO6YFgxh
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 6, 2021
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had made a similar announcement last week.
“It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply participate in normal society,” DeSantis said. “You want to go to a movie theater, should you have to show that? No. You want to go to a game, a theme park? No. So we’re not supportive of that.”
“We always said we wanted to provide it for all but mandate it for none,” he continued. “And that was something that, while it was advised to take particularly if you’re vulnerable, we were not going to force you to do it.”
De Santis said it was a direct threat to America’s privacy; “You’re going to do this and, what, give all this information to some big corporation? You want the fox to guard the henhouse? I mean give me a break,” the governor said. “I think this is something that has huge privacy implications. It is not necessary to do.”
As the Daily Wire posted previously, New York had become the first state to pass laws requiring covid passports:
Called the Excelsior Pass, the passport will be at first used at large venues like Madison Square Garden. But next week, arts and entertainment venues across the state will be using it.
“As they would with an airline boarding pass, people will be able to prove their health status with a digital QR code – or ‘quick response’ machine-readable label,” USA Today reported.
“They’ll need to download the Excelsior Pass app, enter their name, date of birth, and ZIP code, and answer a series of personal questions to confirm their identity. The data will come from the state’s vaccine registry and will be linked to testing data from a number of pre-approved testing companies.”
