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| "Covid-19 Student Ambassadors" getting the jab in Detroit on Tuesday. (Photo by=Getty Images) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] The White House ruled out introducing mandatory federal Covid-19 vaccination passports, saying citizens' privacy and rights should be protected. BBC reported that plans to introduce such passports have been touted around the world as a way to enable the safe circulation of people while fighting the pandemic. But critics say such documents could be discriminatory.
The US said it didn’t and wouldn’t support a "system that requires Americans to carry a credential". Addressing reporters, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there would be no "federal vaccinations database" or a "federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential". The U.S. reported around 550,000 deaths linked to the virus and nearly 31 million cases, the highest numbers in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Countries around the world are looking at the introduction of so-called vaccine passports, which would be used to show that a person has been inoculated against Covid-19, as a way of safely reopening mass gatherings and travel. Additionally, the World Health Organization on Tuesday said it didn’t currently support requiring vaccination passports for travel, because of uncertainty over whether inoculation prevents transmission and discrimination concerns.
