State Watch

Iowa governor says she intends to take action against ‘vaccine passports’

Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she is planning on taking action against so-called vaccine passports in her state. 

“I strongly oppose vaccine passports and I believe that we must take a stand as a state against them, which I intend to do either through legislation or executive action,” the governor said, according to the Des Moines Register.

Reynolds is considering banning vaccine passports either through legislation or executive action. She said it would also include private businesses. 

Vaccine passports are being considered in states like New York and would be used to allow those who are vaccinated to enter events in bigger venues amongst large crowds.

Many Republican states have come out against the notion of vaccine passports and preemptively declared bans against them. 

Reynolds believes a vaccine passport would be a privacy violation.

The idea of a vaccine passport has been floated after millions have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

The Biden administration has previously said the federal government is not looking at implementing a vaccine passport.

A recent poll showed that 53 percent of voters would be in favor of a vaccine passport. 

Reynolds has already been vaccinated and has been encouraging others to do so, but says getting the vaccine is a personal choice.