Vaccine Passports: Legalized Discrimination

In September 2020, I wrote an article about mask mandates and blatant, legalized discrimination against people with disabilities and medical exemptions. Since then, I have learned of more unfortunate examples, including some found in the comments section of my article. I discovered other examples on Twitter, including one that came from none other than Dr. Naomi Wolf, a best-selling author and self-identified leftist liberal who is also disabled and a Democrat.

Wolf is among few Democrats willing to speak out against vaccination passports, whether enforced by private businesses or governmental mandates, noting they can promote inequality and create additional barriers for people with disabilities.

In the larger context of the pandemic, vaccination passports are seen by many as a novel and noble attempt to socially encourage and coerce people into receiving vaccination shots against the coronavirus as part of a concerted effort to control the virus and its impact on society.

While most governments across all levels are unlikely to require vaccination passports, some businesses are already rushing to require proof of vaccination prior to entry. Private businesses can, and do, have the right to require patrons to fulfill certain requirements, such as shirts, shoes, and yes, vaccinations.

Bar Max in Denver is requiring customers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations, and the reasons offered can be summed up: The owner is afraid and, for his own peace of mind, requires everyone around him to be vaccinated. On the surface, it sounds nice and maybe even safe, and it may make some sense for businesses to require vaccinations, but in the end, it is a bad idea.

Vaccine Passports May Enable More Inequality and Discrimination

Political scientist and economist Germinal G. Van, in his book regarding economic analysis of racial inequalities in this country, notes Black folks spend far less on healthcare than whites. Consider also that in Colorado, Hispanics make up 22% of the general population but only 8% have been vaccinated; meanwhile, 72% of white folks in Colorado have been vaccinated. Van points out that trust, or a lack of trust, in the healthcare system, has caused disparities in healthcare among minority groups, and vaccination passports will only exacerbate those disparities as we see with current vaccination rates.

During yellow fever outbreaks in New Orleans in the 19th century, people were discriminated against if they were “unacclimated” or had not yet been sick and recovered from yellow fever. The system of identifying people as “clean” or “with antibodies” vs “unclean” or “not with antibodies” produced something of an  “invisible hierarchy” in which “Immunity’s benefits … were racially determined,” reinforcing racial inequalities. 

One-size-fits-all political solutions disguised as medical interventions can create worse outcomes for many individuals and minority groups. Businesses demanding vaccination passports may also be unwittingly perpetuating more discrimination against people dealing with systematic racism and economic inequalities.

Employees, including those from the aforementioned minority groups, meanwhile, are free to find work elsewhere if their employer requires vaccinations as a term of employment. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, employment vaccination requirements do not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, though people with disabilities and those with religious beliefs against vaccinations are exempt.

Better To Encourage Than Require

The issue of vaccination passports doesn’t necessarily begin or end with employees. Ideally, the decision to vaccinate should be between a patient and her doctor, and not employee and employer, or government bureaucrat and private business employee. But here we are. 

Businesses considering requiring vaccinations should not do so. Again, the passports or even demands of proof of vaccination may create additional political, economic, and medical barriers for minority and vulnerable groups. If the goal is to encourage vaccination rates, genteel persuasion is better than outright manipulative mandates.

The unintended consequences of vaccination passports include the Cobra Effect, in which people find ways to circumvent the good intentions of those who seek to control the virus and its impact on society. Since no human is exactly the same, and material conditions and medical histories vary from person to person, expecting everyone to adhere to one-size-fits-all medical solutions disguised as political solutions is a recipe for disaster. More harm may come from vaccination passports, including prolonging the pandemic.

If you are a business owner, you do have the right to require the vaccination passports of both your customers and employees. But as the adage goes, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” and so it is with vaccination passports.

Personal Freedom and Responsibility

Educated and informed decision-making is the best way to make medical decisions. A terrific way to make a terrible mistake is to do what other people, who pay no price for being wrong, tell you to do. 

Manipulative efforts such as edicts of economic destruction and mandates tend to backfire because humans are diverse in thoughts and action, something governors and public health departments haven’t figured out yet.

Vaccination passports may seem like a good idea, and they may be legal for businesses to require of their employees. But that doesn’t mean they should force people to provide proof of vaccination. If the goal is to reach herd immunity through vaccinations, then free and informed consent is the best way forward. 

For Dr. Naomi Wolf, the fight is on to protect the civil rights of all Americans against an encroaching form of silent authoritarianism disguised as public safety. While she is free to find another bar to frequent that doesn’t require vaccination passports, Bar Max in Denver is free to discriminate against people with disabilities and also minorities. 

I ain’t saying that’s a good thing. I’m saying it’s a terrible thing.

The Maverick Observer, or “The Moe” as we affectionately call it, is an online free-thinking publication interested in the happenings in our town. We launched in February 2020 to hold our politicians and businesses accountable. We hope to educate, inform, entertain, and infuse you with a sense of community.