As concerns grow over the possibility of Americans being forced to get COVID-19 vaccines, one pressing question is how exactly the government will know who has been vaccinated and who has chosen not to get the vaccine. With White House officials recently announcing they will be sending teams door to door to try to convince people in areas with low vaccination rates to get the jab, many fear that the government is planning to set up a database to keep track of who is complying.
The Biden administration has not clarified the areas the plan will target, the length of the effort and what outreach team members plan to do when they approach people in their homes. However, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said that "it is absolutely the government’s business" to send people to knock on Americans’ doors and that doing so has never been illegal. He also tweeted that the federal government has not been keeping a database of who has been vaccinated.
The White House failed to meet a self-imposed deadline of July 4 to have 70 percent of American adults vaccinated with at least their first dose. So far, more than 67 percent have done so, with more than 157 million Americans now fully vaccinated.
The new bill says that if any federal department or agency somehow obtains or possesses data related to the administration of COVID-19 vaccines in any state, it must destroy that data – or delete it if it is in digital form – within 30 days of the enactment of the bill.
Many lawmakers concerned about door-to-door vaccination campaign
Senator Cruz isn’t the only lawmaker who is concerned about the outreach teams. Representative Andy Biggs (R-Arizona) tweeted: “In 2021, the nine most terrifying words in the English language: ‘I’m from the government, have you been vaccinated yet?”
Meanwhile, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) tweeted: "Biden has deployed his Needle Nazis to Mesa County. The people of my district are more than smart enough to make their own decisions about the experimental vaccine and don't need coercion by federal agents. Did I wake up in Communist China?"
Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) tweeted that people should be free to choose whether to get vaccinated, adding: "Why is that concept so hard for the left?"
Earlier bill introduced by Cruz sought to ban federal vaccine passports
In late May, Cruz was one of three senators to introduce a bill banning federal vaccine passports. Some states already have executive orders or bills in place that ban vaccine passports, but they are becoming more popular in other countries as the summer tourism season gets into full swing.
The bill would also stop the government from working alongside third parties like airlines to set up vaccine passport systems of their own.
Cruz has said that he got the vaccine because he felt it was the right decision for him personally, but he believes that Americans should be free to make their own decisions about the matter.
It is unthinkable that in a free society like America, people who do not want to be injected with an experimental vaccine could be denied the ability to participate in society on account of that decision.
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