A contract Orange County officials have already signed includes a provision to offer people an optional digital record of their vaccination, but after repeated complaints from a group of anti-vaccine activists who fear mandates will follow, that option won’t be available unless county supervisors give staffers the green light.
The county had planned to give anyone who received vaccines at sites run by the OC Health Care Agency the choice to get an electronic QR code they could keep in their smartphone and show if requested to get into a business or entertainment venue.
County administration has already approved changes to a contract with the creator of the Othena vaccine scheduling app that would allow the addition of digital vaccine records, but county CEO Frank Kim said he won’t move forward unless the Board of Supervisors specifically directs him to, and no vote on the contract amendment or the electronic records is on Tuesday’s meeting agenda.
OC officials have said repeatedly they are not requiring and don’t plan to require that anyone get vaccinated, or show proof that they have been, to receive county services. State and federal officials also have said they don’t plan to mandate a so-called “vaccine passport” system; California does allow large venues such as stadiums and convention centers to admit more people if they show proof of vaccination.
While a few businesses are requesting proof of vaccination (for example, Dodger Stadium has special seating sections with no social distancing for fully vaccinated fans) and others are considering it, the practice is not widespread and there’s no universal verification system.
But opponents of digital vaccine verification say they fear a voluntary system will evolve into a mandate that would prevent some people from traveling freely or conducting daily business, and it could enable anyone who gets a digital vaccine record to be tracked.
Attorney Leigh Dundas, who has been lobbying Orange County supervisors for a year to oppose mask requirements and business closures, planned to hold a press conference before the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday, May 11, meeting to oppose creation of any digital vaccine record, which she argues would create a two-tiered society that shuts out of public life anyone who doesn’t own a smartphone or can’t get vaccinated.
Dundas and dozens of other residents have showed up at the supervisors’ last several meetings to object to the passports, even after county leaders said they would not be required.
In a Monday phone interview, Dundas said a significant number of seniors don’t use cell phones that can display a digital code, and “those people should have a right to go about their business in the county and elsewhere.”
A media release about the press conference describes “invasive vaccine passport requirements” that could “potentially restrict an individual from shopping for necessities,” although Dundas said she was unaware of any grocery store requiring shoppers to show proof of vaccination.
OC Supervisor Katrina Foley said the suggestion that the county will require anyone to obtain or show proof they’ve been inoculated is “100% false” and added that inaccurate comments about it are undermining the county’s vaccination efforts.
Providing a digital record to people who opt in “is just a professional courtesy to businesses,” Foley said. She added that anyone worried that vaccine records would be used to track their activities “should throw away their iPhones and get off Facebook.”
County vaccination sites already provide the common white CDC cards with the recipient’s name, the type of vaccine used and when it was given. County officials also considered offering a paper version of the QR code that could be mailed out to those without smartphones.
Supervisor Don Wagner said the digital vaccine record county officials intended “is only basically to answer the question, ‘Has this person been vaccinated by the county,’ and the individual has to request the information from us. What the patient does with the record is up to the patient.”
Private sector businesses can decide whether to ask patrons for proof of vaccination, and as to the suggestion that Grandma may starve because she can’t buy groceries, Wagner said, “This is nonsense.”
Dundas said the state allowing large venues to admit more people if they show proof of vaccination is “the functional equivalent” of a mandate, and she doesn’t trust Gov. Gavin Newsom not to change the rules at some point.
Orange County leaders should pass a resolution to prohibit local businesses from asking customers for vaccine records, Dundas said.
The press release suggests hundreds of people are expected at the supervisors’ meeting to speak against digital vaccination records. Some in the county’s business community, on the other hand, want to see the county proceed with something they think will help tourism and commerce return.
“Business has an obligation to keep its employees and customers safe, and businesses could choose this as an option without it being a mandate,” OC Business Council CEO Lucy Dunn said.
“It is a voluntary choice held with each individual,” she said. “For this small band of folks to prevent the use of a benign tool is troubling.”
As of Saturday, state data logged more than 1.18 million of Orange County’s 3.2 million residents as fully vaccinated and another 1.6 million had received one shot of a two-dose vaccine.
Anyone who’s been vaccinated at an Orange County-run site and needs to replace their vaccine record card should email iap@ochca.com.
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OC officials to face crowd, again, over stalled plans for digital vaccine records - OCRegister
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