Arizona Gov. Ducey bans COVID-19 vaccine passports
Arizona Gov. Ducey bans COVID-19 vaccine passports
According to the order, state agencies, counties, cities, and towns cannot issue a measure requiring residents to provide documentation of their COVID-19 vaccination status to enter a business, building, or area in order to receive a government service, permit, or license
PHOENIX - Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued an executive order on Monday banning vaccine passports, preventing local governments from requiring residents to provide their COVID-19 vaccine status in order to receive service or enter a specific area.
According to the order, state agencies, counties, cities, and towns cannot issue a measure requiring residents to provide documentation of their COVID-19 vaccination status to enter a business, building, or area in order to receive a government service, permit, or license.
"The residents of our state should not be required by the government to share their private medical information," Ducey said in a statement on April 19. "While we strongly recommend all Arizonans get the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s not mandated in our state — and it never will be. Vaccination is up to each individual, not the government."
The order does not prohibit private businesses from requiring vaccine documentation for entry or to provide a service. Additionally, health care institutions may require documentation of vaccine status.
Schools, universities, long-term care, and child care centers may continue to collect vaccine documentation.
For concert promoter Danny Zelisko, he doesn’t see it as the worst idea for venues trying to pack the house.
"I’d like it to be something that counts when you’re going into an airplane, going to church, going into a concert. I mean what was the point of getting two vaccines and not proving it to someone that you’re cool?" he said.
Elsewhere in the state, Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy sees the executive order as another fight over local control.
"This seems like a great way to solve a nonexistent problem, to be honest. We had no interest in doing a COVID-19 vaccine passport or anything to that effect," Deasy says.
RELATED: COVID vaccine passport: Fauci says federal government won't mandate
FILE - A COVID-19 vaccination record card issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The state on Monday reported 692 new confirmed COVID-19 cases but no additional deaths.
The state’s coronavirus dashboard listed the total number of cases since the pandemic as 854,453. The death toll remains 17,153.
The dashboard also shows that nearly 4.5 million vaccine doses have been administered in the state.
More than 2.7 million people — 38.1% of Arizona’s population — have received at least one shot and over 1.9 million people now are fully vaccinated.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.