What is the problem? Have you been vaccinated for the coronavirus? It is a pretty simple issue that will only get bigger as we have more people become vaccinated and the question about health safety looms larger as people want to re-enter the workplace and entertainment venues.
I am predisposed to like rules and policies that provide for a safer environment. There are many people who hate to have building codes, building permits and inspections of something they want to build, be it a home, a garage or an office building. Zoning is another hot button issue in communities that control the “as built” environment to provide some sanity for what a business district or neighborhood will look like.
I also do not see some Dr. Evil behind every technology tool that is available. The idea that Bill Gates is behind the vaccination efforts worldwide and is injecting some type of tracing medium into every person who gets a vaccination does not carry much weight with my thinking. “Whacko” is a word that comes to mind.
If you want to travel to another country, you need a passport to do so. You show it before you get on a plane and you will show it again at customs when you get off the plane in another country. We have these “rules and procedures” in order to provide for an orderly society.
What is happening today is that organizations, large and small are seeking to establish a way to identify who has been vaccinated. This might be a college, a school district, a business, a sporting event, etc. It makes sense to me. I do find it a bit troubling that there is no effort at the federal level from the White House on down to bring some form of order to the vaccine passport chaos that is emerging. I believe they see a political football developing and they want to stay out of the food fight that will ensue as more and more people get vaccinated and more institutions try to do “their thing” to meet their needs.
Enter politics. It appears that there are governors and others who are seeking to protect “freedom-loving Americans” from having to adhere to any process that would prove that a person is vaccinated. It is the same type of thinking (political thinking at that) that propelled the anti-mask efforts across many states to make it a political statement.
We could go deeper into the topic with things like religion. There was a study done earlier this year that found “there are about 41 million white evangelical adults in the U.S. About 45% said in late February that they would not get vaccinated against COVID-19, making them among the least likely demographic groups to do so, according to the Pew Research Center.” Having this group of like-minded people oppose vaccination also helps make it a political statement — given the politics of the day.
As the pandemic continues and evolves over time, I do think the federal government will need to step in, especially when it comes to international travel. That is what they exist for, is it not? Other nations will have national solutions to the vaccine passport issue. Here in the United States, we will be “free” to do what we have always done — our own thing, when and where we can get away with it.
