A Michigan county banned vaccine passports this week, a key development that would prevent at least one local health department from being involved.
Muskegon County, with a population of about 175,000, said it “does not support, endorse, or enforce mandatory vaccines or vaccine passports in government buildings, public spaces, businesses, or places of employment,” according to a resolution adopted by commissioners.
The resolution acknowledged “vaccine passports do not take into consideration the large number of citizens who have contracted and recovered from (the coronavirus) and are therefore naturally immune.”
“The CDC, MDHHS (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services), and the Muskegon County Department of Public Health acknowledge that it is possible for vaccinated individuals to contact and spread (the virus),” the resolution said, and claimed vaccine passports are “thus highly discriminatory.”
Banning the use of vaccine passports is “necessary to protect the fundamental rights and privacies of the residents of Muskegon County and the free flow of commerce.”
In April, the Michigan state government was at the “discussion stage” of the concept.
“No work has begun…it’s strictly in the discussion stage,” MDHHS spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin told the Oakland Press. “I suspect it will be an app, but I don’t have any confirmation of that.”
On Wednesday, Sutfin told Breitbart News the department “is not currently exploring a vaccine passport concept” and is instead focusing on “vaccinating as many Michiganders as possible to help us reach our goal of vaccinating 70 percent of Michigan residents ages 16 and older.”
A poll released Tuesday indicated that might be a difficult goal to reach, as 31 percent of respondents said they were not planning on getting the vaccine.
The Michigan legislature is considering a series of bills to ban the use of vaccine passports in the public and private sectors. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has not said her stance on the legislation, though she said Tuesday there has not “been any talk” about vaccine passports in Lansing, WLNS reported.
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.