![a plastic water bottle on a table: A syringe and a vial reading "Vaccine COVID-19" sit next to a passport in this photo taken in Paris, France on March 3, 2021.]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"53","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1fpYwO.img?h=533&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1fpYwO.img?h=417&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1fpYwO.img?h=417&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})
4/9/21
Republican Idaho Governor Brad Little banned “vaccine passports” for COVID-19 on Wednesday, while Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, also a Republican, signaled that her state could soon follow suit.
Little was third GOP governor to ban the so-called passports at the state level. Last Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis became the first to block the passports, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordering a ban on Monday.
“Idahoans should be given the choice to receive the vaccine,” Little said in a statement. “We should not violate Idahoans’ personal freedoms by requiring them to receive it. Vaccine passports create different classes of citizens.”
“Vaccine passports restrict the free flow of commerce during a time when life and the economy are returning to normal,” he added. “Vaccine passports threaten individual freedom and patient privacy.”
Reynolds indicated that she could become the fourth Republican governor to issue an executive order banning the passports during a news conference on Wednesday. Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill that bans the state government from using the passports last month, although it does not apply to private businesses, unlike the orders from DeSantis, Abbott and Little.
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