Vaccine Passports In WI? An Overwhelming No From Patch Readers

WISCONSIN — An overwhelming majority of Wisconsin Patch readers are against the idea of a statewide vaccine passport — a kind of digital credential that would show a person's vaccination status or recent negative test of COVID-19 as a way for them to possibly attend sporting events or enter businesses.

As more and more people are vaccinated against COVID-19, the idea of a vaccine passport has been in the public discourse and states are taking steps to either explore the idea or reject it altogether. In Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers are already proposing legislation that would ban such a system, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Patch received just over 1,000 responses to our survey with 62 percent of respondents saying they opposed the idea of a vaccine passport. A majority of those respondents said they had data privacy concerns around the use of such a credential. When asked about the specific types of concerns they had, readers said they should be able to keep medical information private.

The survey is not a scientific poll, with random sampling and weighting by race education or other factors, but should be viewed as a broad gauge of public sentiment.

Many readers cited HIPAA and claimed it would be violation of the law to require a vaccine passport. However, a fact check of this claim makes it clear that is not the case. The law's privacy rule applies to covered entities like doctors and prevents them from sharing medical information with third parties, as The Washington Post explained.

"HIPAA doesn’t apply if nobody involved is part of the medical system; it’s not technically a medical record," Carmel Shachar, a Harvard Law lecturer, told Slate in December.

A fact-check by Atlanta-based news outlet 11Alive also found that an individual voluntarily sharing medical information is consenting to let that information be shared.

That's not to say there aren't legitimate privacy concerns around the use of a vaccine passport, as digital data breaches are now common.

The nearly 38 percent of respondents who said they supported a vaccine passport shared some of the settings where they felt such a passport could be used. Below is a sampling of the locations:

• Air travel
• Large events
• Sports
• Concerts
• Any public activity with 20 or more people
• Any place you will be in close proximity to others or where you may have your mask off, for example to eat or drink.
• Ticket events. Especially indoors.
• Cruise ships
• Public transportation

The vast majority (91 percent) of those in favor of the passport also said they did not have data privacy concerns around the use of such a passport.

"I think requiring to show proof of vaccination is just another way of protecting ourselves and those around us," one respondent said.

"Having a vaccine passport is just not a big deal. If everyone wants to get back to a normal life then get vaccinated," another reader said.

"The safety of the population is at stake," one person said. "Given that a certain segment of said population is both more concerned with personal liberty than safety, and is comfortable with putting others in danger's way, I don't believe that they should be given the option, anymore."

Most readers (nearly 95 percent) who were opposed to the idea of a vaccine passport said they did not believe residents should have to show proof of vaccination. When it came to letting private businesses and employers put their own policies in place, a smaller yet still overwhelming majority (nearly 80 percent) of these readers, said they were opposed to it.

Those opposed to the passports were also largely against health screenings like temperature checks at restaurants and movie theaters (nearly 84 percent), COVID-19 vaccine requirements for domestic or international air travel (92 percent) and a majority (nearly 80 percent) said they would not feel safer attending an event or eating at a restaurant knowing others around them had been vaccinated for COVID-19.

"If you want a vaccine, get a vaccine," one person opposed to the idea of a vaccine passport said in the survey. "If you have the vaccine, you shouldn't be worried about those who don't. If you don't have the vaccine, you shouldn't complain if you get sick. Pretty simple really."

"No mandates whatsoever!" wrote another.

"Once COVID proof are allowed it will open door for additional restrictions & requirements for health & other issues," another person wrote. "Restrictions in numerous areas would never stop."

"We can move forward by people getting vaccinated, if they prefer" another person said. "The government should not dictate what each person can and cannot do. We can make our own decisions. If you don’t believe how a business runs and what precautions they take, then don’t support them."

For now, there doesn't seem to be a federal vaccine passport that Americans will be required to carry. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently 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.