Debate Over Potential Use Of Vaccine Passports Heating Up
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The debate is heating up about whether sporting venues, theaters or businesses should require proof of vaccination.
"I think it's a good idea for now," Brian Sullivan said. "I think there needs to be a transition between where we've been for the last year plus and where we're going."
Some, like Sullivan, believe so-called vaccine passports can help large-scale venues reopen faster as the region moves out of the pandemic. It would mean that anyone going to a concert, theater, cruise or other large gathering would have to show proof of vaccination to get in.
"Me and my friends, we're very young," Ly Tran said. "A lot of naïveté, a lot of anxiety to go out and have fun again, so I think my friends would be down to definitely go to concerts with a vaccination passport."
But Wren T. Brown, founder and director of Ebony Repertory Theatre, said that while the idea has some appeal, he was ultimately against it.
"For me, I find it a very dangerous proposition, finally," he said. "I think the public is the driver of the doors being open for all of our venues. We have to regard and respect the public, and I think we run a great risk of ostracizing our public, alienating our public and finally treating our public like they're lepers."
Brown said he would rather the entertainment community be patient as they wait to fully reopen once again.
"The theater has been around for thousands of years," he said. "The theater will be around and we just have to find those creative ways that we can use our resources to keep our doors open and then welcome our public back with open arms and a big and wide and generous embrace."
And beyond the hesitation of businesses to put vaccine requirements in place, UCLA School of Law professor Eugene Volokh said vaccine verification cards might also infringe on people's civil rights.
"That's a significant burden on people's liberty," he said. "It's a significant burden on their privacy. Usually you don't have to show evidence of any kind of medical treatment or medical condition or a lack of condition to go places."
Currently, the state is not requiring people who attend large-scale events to provide proof of vaccination, however California's Health and Human Services secretary said officials were discussing whether it makes sense to require a vaccine or proof of negative COVID test to enter large venues.