In a statement, the governor says “since the start of the COVID pandemic, we have provided South Dakotans with up-to-date science, facts, and data and then trusted them to make the best decisions for themselves and their loved-ones.”
She added, “I encourage all South Dakotans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but we are not going to mandate any such activity. And we are not going to restrict South Dakotans’ exercise of their freedoms with un-American policies like vaccine passports. In our state, ‘Under God, the people rule.’ And that is how we will operate for as long as I am governor.”
Vaccine passports are a kind of verification that a person has been vaccinated, which could be used by government, private companies, and event organizers to resolve who can safely engage in certain activities or go to several places.
North Dakota’s Senate, on April 15, passed a resolution urging Congress to object to COVID-19 vaccine papers. Additionally to facing travel restrictions, the resolution also rejects any law restricting school or business participation based on vaccine status. The resolution passed from 34 to 13.
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At the beginning of April, the Biden administration stated it will not issue a federal mandate ordering people to get a single vaccination credential, otherwise defined as a ‘vaccine passport,’ saying that it expects the private sector to take the lead on the verification of COVID-19 vaccines.
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In a report carried in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers Mark Hall and David Studdert expand on this issue of the unknown, saying “the extent of protection conferred by vaccination, particularly against new variants, is not yet well understood, nor is the potential for viral transmission by people who have been vaccinated.”
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Hall and Studdert also outlined the ethical issues that have been put as well, saying “while vaccine supply remains limited, privileging people who are fortunate enough to have gained early access is morally questionable.”
The pair continues discussing matters of equity, stating that even after supply concerns are resolved “rates of vaccination among racial minorities and low-income populations seem likely to remain disproportionately low.” Finally, they two bring up the number of religious exemptions to vaccination, showing that “privileging the vaccinated will penalize people with religious or philosophical objections to vaccination.”
Beyond medical and ethical concerns, issues of logistical hurdles also live. Hall and Studdert touch on this, stating that one impediment to vaccine passports is the lack of “a consensus approach to accurately certifying vaccination.”
A panel of researchers led by Oxford Professors Melinda Mills and Chris Dye gathered a list of 12 matters that would need to be spoken before a potential vaccine passport could be added.
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