An executive emergency order issued by Gov. DeSantis on Friday, April 2, bans “Vaccination Passports” issued by governing agencies. A vaccine passport is a paper or electronic document issued by either a governmental or private sector entity that is used to prove that someone has received the COVID-19 vaccination. The executive order also prevents Florida businesses from requiring that customers prove they have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 before entering a business.
During a March 29 press conference in Tallahassee, DeSantis said that while Florida has been aggressive in making vaccines available to all, he will not order all residents to receive vaccinations.
He promised to ban vaccination passports because they require individuals to share personal information including when and where they were vaccinated with the government or with private sector entities that issue them.
“It is completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccination to just simply participate in normal society,” DeSantis said. “You’re going to give all this information to some big corporation? Do you want the fox to guard the henhouse?”
In addition to issuing his own executive order banning vaccination passports in the State, DeSantis called on lawmakers to do the same.
“We need legislators to come in and say this is not happening in Florida,” he said.
