Should CA Offer A Voluntary Vaccine Passport? Readers Weigh In

CALIFORNIA — Golden State officials have repeatedly maintained that they will not mandate a vaccine passport as the state prepares to fully reopen next month. But those attending a "mega" indoor event will have to prove their coronavirus vaccination or provide results of a negative test given within 72 hours of the event.

These screenings will be required for indoor events with 5,000 or more attendees, but the state hasn't specified how venues and businesses can streamline this process.

"We are requiring — requiring, not recommending — a vaccine verification/negative test, and there will not be an option to come in if you're neither of those and you can't verify that by just wearing a mask," Dr. Mark Ghaly, California secretary of health and human services, said Friday.

The state of New York, meanwhile, partnered with IBM to create the first vaccine passport app, Excelsior Pass. The use of that pass is voluntary, and participating businesses and venues may opt to use them. The pass can show vaccination records or negative test results.

It remains to be seen whether California will contract with a developer to offer its own voluntary vaccine passport.

In a recent non-scientific survey, we asked readers whether they thought the state should adopt a voluntary pass system. The poll — which drew over 2,575 responses — is not meant to be a scientific poll but only to give a broad idea of public sentiment.

More than 47 percent of survey participants answered "no" California should not develop its own passport, while 42.8 percent said "yes," the state should have one. Meanwhile, 10.1 percent said they weren't sure.

When asked "should California mandate a vaccine passport," 53.6 percent of participants answered "no," 34.8 percent said "yes" and 11.7 percent said they weren't sure.

READ MORE: 6 Things To Know About California's New Face Mask Rules

"I believe the vaccination record verification is a must at this time," one respondent said. "We may be fine but there are a lot of people coming from all over the country and from other parts of the world. We have been good so far but it is always better to be safe."

"I think medical information is private and should stay that way. It is not anyone’s business what goes in each other’s bodies," another participant said.

These numbers have shifted from the last time Patch asked its readers the same question in an April survey. Then, more than 58 percent said they were against mandating a passport, while 42 percent were for it.

"We are not at this time requiring or considering a vaccine passport for vendors," Ghaly said on Friday. "We know the technology is being privately developed. … Our intention is to provide some guidance."

Staples Center, situated in the heart of Los Angeles, already posted guidance on vaccine verification that aligns with the state.

"A health verification is required for all ticketed guests," the stadium's safety guidelines said. "Guests are required to present a photo ID, and either proof of full vaccination (two weeks since your final dose) or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event date. Out of state visitors are required to show proof of full vaccination."

In this week's survey, Patch asked readers to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how much they agreed with the state's new rule to require proof vaccination or verify a negative COVID-19 test at a "mega" event.

Of the respondents, 1,281 people or 49.7 percent gave a 5 rating, 3.3 percent gave a 4, 3.1 percent rated 3, 3 percent rated 2 and 1,054 people or 40.9 percent gave the lowest rating.

Alternatively, for large outdoor events, the state is merely recommending that venues verify vaccine records or test results. When asked whether the state should actually require verification, 49.9 percent said "no," 44.6 percent said "yes" and just 5.5 percent said they weren't sure.

Those who responded in the survey were mostly in agreement that masks were not a solution either. When asked if the state should require masks at giant indoor events instead of immunity verification, 68.5 percent answered "no." Just 19.9 percent said "yes" and 11.6 percent said they weren't sure.

"We do not live in a socialist country - we should not be required. Those who want to mask up, can," one responded said.

Here are some of the thoughts Patch readers shared on vaccination verification:

We need our freedom back, it’s unconstitutional to make everyone get vaccinated! We have a right to decide what we put inside our own bodies!

California should not waste the millions of dollars to do something that is unnecessary and over-reaching.

It would make all things easier for me and family who have all been vaccinated. For all we’ve been through especially in California a passport system for vaccination should be available.

If they're going to require it step up and provide it. This is just another of Gavin Newsom’s idiotic half-ass implementation. Recall him and get someone in there who can do a consistent credible job.

It would help remedy the vaccination hesitancy when unvaccinated people actually see the benefits of being vaccinated.

This would simplify the process without fear of losing or carrying a card. It would also reduce the number of illegitimate vaccine cards.

I think it’s a great idea.

There should be not restrictions at all. Let us get on with our lives and stop trying to control just because you can and claim to be protecting us. Stop!

When people feel like they don't have a choice it causes many of them to reject the requirement being made. Hopefully, a voluntary vaccine passport system will not cause too much opposition. It has been a long hard road to get to where we are now. It would be very difficult to have to deal with regression to previous states of infection during which the numbers of infected people start climbing again.

California is set to reopen and lift nearly all coronavirus restrictions on June 15. On that day, California will no longer require social distancing or capacity limits, officials announced Friday.

"We're at a place with this pandemic where those requirements of the past are no longer needed for the foreseeable future," Ghaly said.

The Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which restricted counties to varying degrees depending on coronavirus prevalence, will also go away.

"We are now at a point, given our metrics that we've been watching, California is at a place where we can begin to talk about moving beyond the blueprint," Ghaly said.

Cases plummeted dramatically several months ago and have remained low in stark contrast to the height of the state's winter coronavirus surge. The state's positivity rate has also consistently hovered around 1 percent, among the lowest rates in the country.

More than, 36 million vaccine doses have been administered, and more than three-quarters of residents over 65 have received at least one dose, Ghaly said. The rising level of vaccinations means it's safe for California to remove nearly all restrictions next month, he said.

Lifting these restrictions will inevitably result in some increased transmissions, Ghaly said. But the health care system should be able to handle them, and local officials can still impose additional limits if there are outbreaks, he added.

Health officials will also continue tracking whether virus mutations start breaking through vaccinations, which he said could prompt a return to restrictions.

"We're going to be watching that very closely," he said. "But I think we are in a place statewide where we have a significant number of people vaccinated and protected."

READ MORE: Vaccinating Kids Against Coronavirus: Patch Readers Weigh In

California Coronavirus Data As Of Wednesday

• California has 3,675,817 confirmed cases to date.

• There were 1,155 newly recorded confirmed cases Tuesday.

• The 7-day positivity rate is 0.8%.

• There have been 64,818,153 tests conducted in California.

• There have been 61,824 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

• As of May 26, providers have reported administering a total of 36,675,042 vaccine doses statewide.