Should Ohio Get Vaccine Passports? Patch Readers Weigh In

OHIO — The majority of Ohio Patch readers are against the idea of a statewide vaccine passport — a digital credential that shows a person's vaccination status or recent negative test for 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. State Rep. Al Cutrona, Republican from Canfield, has introduced legislation that would prohibit the implementation of such a system. Gov. Mike DeWine said there are currently no plans for a vaccine passport system in Ohio.

Patch received just over 500 responses to our survey with 55 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.

Other survey respondents said they felt vaccine passports would be government overreach, and a violation of personal liberty.

The nearly 45 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

"Just as there were smoking and non-smoking areas in years past, do the same for those vaccinated and those who are not. This would only be done if the virus was at unacceptable levels, as determined by the governor of the state," said one survey respondent.

Others who said they were in support of vaccination passports noted they feel unsafe due to the amount of misinformation about COVID-19 that's prevalent among those refusing the vaccine.

"Making people show proof they are vaccinated will make others (such as those who still think the virus is fake) have to get the vaccine to be able to live as they please.Thus stopping the spread," one reader said.

Another reader suggested skipping government policies, but creating the vaccine passport system for private businesses.

"I really don't care if the passports are government required, but [passports] should be available to all who want them. Private businesses could then require them, and no one could say this is government intrusion," they said.