Press secretary Jen Psaki said there will be no federal vaccine passport scheme
(Picture: Getty Images)The US government has said it will not introduce compulsory federal coronavirus vaccine passports amid fears people’s privacy would be compromised.
Despite similar schemes being set up around the world, the White House will not support American citizens “carrying a credential”, according to its press secretary.
There has been some criticism that such documents would create a “two-tier society”.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said there would be no “federal vaccinations database” or a “federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential”, reports the BBC.
She added: “The government is not now, nor will be, supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential.
“Our interest is very simple from the federal government, which is Americans' privacy and rights should be protected, and so that these systems are not used against people unfairly.”
Proposals to introduce Covid vaccine passports are viewed as one way to return to some sort of normality while continuing to fight the virus.
In the US, there has already been more than 550,000 coronavirus deaths and nearly 31 million individual cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
It is the worst affected country in the world.
Other countries are already pressing on with plans for so-called vaccine passports, which would show that a person has been vaccinated against Covid or has recently tested negative.
The European Union is working on bringing in certificates for citizens, while in England, a pilot scheme is being worked on for major events such as concerts or sports events.
Israel, which has largely re-opened due to its successful vaccination programme, provides a pass for people to access facilities such as hotels, gyms or theatres.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it did not currently support people needing vaccination passports to travel, because it cannot be certain whether inoculation prevents transmission.
