Do You Support A Vaccine Passport In NYC? Take Our Survey

NEW YORK CITY — With a quarter of New Yorkers now fully vaccinated – and many more itching to get back to regular life – vaccine passports are a hot topic.

New York's "Excelsior Pass" already acts as a way to demonstrate your COVID-19 status and was introduced in February as a way to get spectators back to sporting events, theaters and other venues.

Initially used at Nets and Rangers game, fans with the pass showed off a QR code that confirmed their negative COVID tests.

The next step could be using a similar pass to show vaccination status, and could open up quarantine-free travel.

The issue is divisive. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that it raises several privacy issues.

"I believe folks who go on an airplane should have to provide evidence of vaccination or having a negative recent test," he said.

"That to me would be a common-sense measure of you're putting a whole lot of people in a steel tube and sending them up in the air for hours on end. But I would say it's a different standard if you're talking about an outdoor event or something like that."

He continued: "There's a place for these passports, but there do need to be some checks and balances as well."

Patch wants to know how you feel about the topic. Take our survey below to let us know.

For now, there doesn't seem to be a federal vaccine passport that Americans will be required to carry. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said there will be no federal mandate requiring everyone to have a single vaccination credential and the administration has said they would leave it up to private companies.

"The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential," Psaki said. "There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential."

Those concerned about the proposal have privacy concerns about health information getting leaked, which experts say is valid.