FLORIDA (LifeSiteNews) – Florida residents and tourists to the Sunshine State do not need to worry about businesses and public entities asking them about their COVID-19 vaccination status thanks to a new law that goes into effect on September 16.
Businesses in Florida “may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations in this state,” according to Senate Bill 2006.
Neither can government entities or educational institutions require proof that someone has taken the COVID shot. There is a $5,000 fine for violations of the law.
The law does not prohibit places from putting in place other health screening protocols. It also protects the rights of Floridians to participate in the economy, no matter their personal decision about the COVID jab, according to Governor Ron DeSantis’s spokeswoman.
“Floridians have the right to medical privacy. Individual vaccination records are private health information, which should not be shared by mandate,” Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told LifeSiteNews via email. “Vaccine passports reduce individual freedom and harm patient privacy. Allowing businesses and educational institutions to require vaccine passports as a condition of entry or service would entrench an unfair, two-tiered society.”
“The decision to get a COVID vaccine should be up to individuals, who have the power to make the right choices for themselves and their families,” Pushaw said.
She pushed back on critics of the governor, including agriculture commissioner and 2022 Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried.
“Governor DeSantis is retaliating against Floridians who are trying to protect themselves and their communities from COVID-19,” Fried claimed to the Orlando Sentinel.
Nothing in the law prevents Floridians from taking coronavirus vaccines, wearing masks, or locking themselves inside their homes.
“Governor DeSantis is making decisions based on empirical evidence, upholding the rule of law, and protecting all Floridians’ individual rights,” Pushaw said.
“Defending individual rights from unjustified overreach, whether by government or business, is a legitimate use of state executive power.”
DeSantis is currently in a legal battle to stop the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from requiring inoculation onboard cruise ships and to prevent cruise lines from checking passengers’ vaccine status. “From here on out a federal bureau will be on thin legal and constitutional ice if and when it attempts to exercise such sweeping authority that is not explicitly delineated by law,” the governor said in July.
New York City and San Francisco have implemented “vaccine passport” systems requiring people to show proof they’ve taken coronavirus injections in order to fully participate in the economy.
“’If you’re unvaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things. That’s the point we’re trying to get across,” outgoing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in August.
“This is a miraculous place, literally full of wonders, and if you’re vaccinated, all that’s going to open up to you. You’ll have the key, you can open the door,” the mayor said.
Powerful nations of the world, including China, the UK, and Canada are discussing plans to require so-called 'vaccine passports' as a condition for travel, and possibly to restrict entry to shopping and entertainment venues.
Israel has already put in place a system to discriminate against those who choose not to take the COVID vaccine, and, in the United States, Joe Biden has signed a new executive order which could pave the way for the implementation of a 'vaccine passport' system. [See more below.]
This kind of medical dictatorship must be resisted, and therefore, we must act quickly before these authoritarian notions take root and spread!
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition to SAY NO to government 'vaccine passports.' Tell your legislators to respect your freedom not to vaccinate without fear of repercussion.
People should not have to live in fear of government retribution for refusing a vaccine which is being rushed to market by Big Pharma and their fellow-travelers in NGOs, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
It would be intolerable and immoral for the government to coerce someone, and their family, to take a COVID vaccine against their will just so they can do their weekly grocery shopping, go to a high school soccer game, travel on public transport, or visit their relatives who live in a different part of the country, or overseas.
Medical freedom must be respected in principle and also in practice.
So, it is now time that our policy-makers listen to all voices involved in this vital conversation, and start to represent those who will not tolerate being punished, restricted, or tracked for refusing an experimental vaccine.
Simply put, legislatures must begin to act as legislatures again.
Questions must be asked. Hearings and investigations must be held. And, the legislatures of each state and country must return to the business of representing the people who voted for them, assuming their rightful place as the originator of legislation.
We will no longer accept the dictates of executive branches without question. And, neither can we accept the dictates of some doctors who seem detached from reality and from science.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which asks national political leaders (as well as state and provincial legislators in the U.S. and Canada) to pledge to respect the rights of those who refuse a COVID vaccine, and NOT introduce 'vaccine passports,' or any other system which would discriminate on the basis of taking the COVID vaccine.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Biden executive order directs government to evaluate ‘feasibility’ of vaccine passports' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/biden-executive-order-directs-government-to-evaluate-feasibility-of-vaccine-passports
'China lobbies WHO to develop COVID vaccine passports for all nations' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/china-lobbies-who-to-develop-covid-vaccine-passports-for-all-nations
'UK advances plans for vaccine passports to travel, enter stores' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/uk-advances-plans-for-vaccine-passports-to-travel-enter-stores
'Canada’s health minister: Gov’t ‘working on the idea of vaccine passports’' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canadas-health-minister-govt-working-on-the-idea-of-vaccine-passports
'European Commission president plans to introduce vaccine passports' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/european-commission-president-plans-to-introduce-vaccine-passports
'Israel’s ‘Green Passport’ vaccination program has created a ‘medical Apartheid,’ distraught citizens say' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/israels-green-passport-vaccination-program-has-created-a-medical-apartheid-distraught-citizens-say
'LA schools to track every kid using Microsoft’s ‘Daily Pass’ COVID app' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/la-schools-to-track-every-kid-using-microsofts-daily-pass-covid-app
The passport system is called the “Key to NYC Pass” and enforcement begins September 13.
Fellow Democratic East Coast mayor Kim Janey of Boston disagrees with de Blasio’s approach.
“During slavery, post-slavery, as recent as you know what immigrant population has to go through here,” Janey said, “we want to make sure that we are not doing anything that would further create a barrier for residents of Boston or disproportionally impact BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and people of color] communities.”
While “vaccine passport” rules require full inoculation – one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine or two doses of Pfizer or Moderna’s mRNA injection – the possibility of booster shoots being introduced more widely in the U.S. will likely leave some double-jabbed individuals out in the cold as well.
Israel, Croatia, and Austria have told double-jabbed citizens that their inoculation passes will not be considered valid if they do not take a third booster shot.