Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained the role the federal government will be assuming during a press briefing on Monday.
“We are going to provide guidance, just as we have through the CDC,” explained Psaki. “There’s currently an interagency process that is looking at many of the questions around vaccine verification, and that issue will touch many agencies as verification is an issue that will potentially touch many sectors of society. “
“A determination or development of a vaccine passport or whatever you want to call it will be driven by the private sector,” continued Psaki. “Ours will more be focused on guidelines that can be used as a basis.”
Psaki insisted that there would not be a federal vaccine mandate.
“There are a couple of key principles that we are working from. One is that there will be no centralized, universal federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential,” said Psaki.
“Second, we want to encourage an open marketplace with a variety of private sector companies and non-profit coalitions developing solutions,” continued Psaki. “And third, we want to drive the market toward meeting public interest goals. So we’ll leverage our resources to ensure that all vaccination credential systems meet key standards, whether that’s universal accessibility, affordability, availability, both digitally and on paper.”
Former Clinton advisor and staunch feminist Naomi Wolf expressed her distaste for “vaccine passports,” saying it would be the “end of human liberty in the West.”
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