Michigan Vaccine Passports? An Overwhelming No From Patch Readers

MICHIGAN — Should Michigan adopt a statewide COVID-19 vaccination passport? According to Patch readers in Michigan, the answer is a resounding "no."

More people across the nation are being vaccinated against the coronavirus, especially now that all Michiganders over 16 can be vaccinated. But the idea of a COVID-19 vaccination passport, which would serve as a sort of digital voucher that a person has received their vaccine and could allow them to attend some public events, is unpopular, according to a recent survey by Patch.

According to that survey, 1,024 — or 59.1 percent of respondents — say they are opposed to the idea of a vaccination passport. The majority of those opposed to the passport idea cited security issues as one of the hold-ups, with more than 72 percent (744) saying they had data privacy concerns around the use of such a passport.

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.

The nearly 38 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

Most readers (92.1 percent) who were opposed to the idea of a vaccine passport said they did not believe residents should have to show proof of vaccination. When it came to letting private businesses and employers put their own policies in place, a smaller yet still overwhelming majority (over 75 percent) of these readers, said they were opposed to it.

Those opposed to the passports were also largely against health screenings like temperature checks at restaurants and movie theaters (nearly 73 percent), COVID-19 vaccine requirements for domestic or international air travel (87.7 percent) and a majority (nearly 75 percent) said they would not feel safer attending an event or eating at a restaurant knowing others around them had been vaccinated for COVID-19.

"There have been diseases our whole lives. You build your immune system, stay home if you're sick and go through life," one reader said. "You should not dictate who can do what and take away people's rights and choices about their health and bodies."

"I do not feel that a vaccine should be 'mandatory', especially one that does not guarantee you will not get covid after being vaccinated," said another respondent. "If it stopped you from getting it, and if we knew there were going to be NO long term side effects then maybe."

"The vaccines have yet to receive full FDA approval. They are too new to be fully trusted," one Patch survey taker said.

"A covid vaccination should be my choice only," another said.