On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB968, preventing the state's businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccine passports or vaccine information. The bill follows an executive order signed in early April that banned any state-funded groups or agencies that receive public funds from denying a person entry or services if they are not vaccinated or do not provide proof of vaccination. Nonetheless, the bill does not restrict businesses from "implementing COVID-19 screening and infection control protocols in accordance with state and federal law to protect public health."
During a video on social media, Abbott commented that "Vaccine passports are now prohibited in the Lone Star State." Texas State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham authored the bill—which bans the Texas Medical Board from restricting or preventing a non-elective medical procedure and requires PPE to be stockpiled in case of a public health disaster—explained that ultimately, it boils down to protecting healthcare privacy. Kolkhorst, a Republican who made sure to point out she is an advocate for vaccines, added:
"Never before in our nation's history have we mandated a vaccine that's under emergency authorization use…it does allow for screening for COVID protocols, so you can, you know, require temperature checks, tests, if you want to. It just prohibits the use of a vaccine passport, and I want everyone to understand that…I advocate for vaccines."
Abbott signed the bill, which goes into effect immediately, just as Carnival Cruise Line announced its return to sail from the Port of Galveston on July 3, but only for fully vaccinated passengers. Meanwhile, Cruise line Royal Caribbean also has a trip leaving from Galveston in August. Unlike Carnival, the company said in a June 4 announcement that it is "strongly recommending" the vaccine to guests but making it optional for those who agree to "undergo testing and follow other protocols." Carnival indicated it is currently evaluating the legislation, saying in a statement:
"The law provides exceptions for when a business is implementing COVID protocols in accordance with federal law, which is consistent with our plans to comply with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's guidelines."
As recently reported by UncoverDC, many professionals in the medical community—especially in the wake of the floodgates opened by the release of Dr. Fauci's emails—are skeptical about COVID-19 vaccines and the methodology behind the official handling of the pandemic. The idea of vaccine passports is an extension of that doubt. Currently, in the U.S., while Hawaii and New York have implemented vaccine certification requirements for specific activities, fourteen states have banned the requirement of vaccine passports.
If mandated in the United States, vaccine passports, in the expert opinion of many, would open the door to implementing a social credit system in the United States similar to the one currently in place in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A CCP document from 2015 outlining the regime's social credit plan reveals, "[the] social credit system is an important component part of the Socialist market economy system and the social governance system" and strives to bolster the idea that "keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful." The document continues:
"The main objectives of the construction of a social credit system are: by 2020, basically having established fundamental laws, regulations, and standard systems for social credit, basically having completed a credit investigation system covering the entire society with credit information and resource sharing at the basis, basically having completed credit supervision and management systems, having a relatively perfect credit service market system, and giving complete rein to mechanisms to encourage keeping trust and punish breaking trust."
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fchina-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4
As pointed out in Business Insider, like personal credit scores, a person's social score can move up and down depending on their behavior. For example, China already punishes people by restricting their travel, including banning them from flights. According to the National Public Credit Information Centre, by the end of 2018, authorities prohibited people from purchasing airline tickets 17.5 million times. While the exact methodology is not fully known, other examples of infractions include:
- Impaired driving.
- Smoking in non-smoking zones.
- Buying too many video games.
- Posting fake news online, specifically about terrorist attacks or airport security.
While people with good scores get rewarded, Foreign Policy reports that the CCP's social credit systems observe whether people pay bills on time while morally evaluating them, with the government restricting, for example, your internet speeds as a punishment. In 2017, the city of Jinan began enforcing a social credit system for dog owners, deducting points if the dog is walked without a leash or causes public disturbances. Individuals who lost all their points had their dogs seized and were tested on pet ownership regulations.
Although not reported in legacy media, protests against lockdowns, vaccine passports, and other COVID-19 restrictions are happening worldwide. On May 29, 2021, in the U.K., Britons held a "Unite for Freedom" rally in London. Hundreds of citizen protesters gathered in the Westfield shopping mall and Parliament Square. In a sign that protests work, one day later, as reported by Reuters, Britain dropped COVID-19 passports as a legal requirement for large events.
As pointed out by former Clinton advisor Naomi Wolfe, a vaccine passport is "not about the vaccine; it’s not about the virus, it’s about your data … What people have to understand is that any other functionality can be loaded onto that platform with no problem at all. It can be merged with your Paypal account, with your digital currency." She added:
"Microsoft is already talking about merging it with payment plans. Your network can be sucked up. It geolocates you everywhere you go. Your credit history can be included. All of your medical and health history can be included …
It is absolutely so much more than a vaccine pass … I cannot stress enough that it has the power to turn off your life, or to turn on your life, to let you engage in society or be marginalized.”
