The state of California is incentivizing certain businesses – FECs among them – to require customers to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination. CalMatters reports the move suggests the state is moving toward a vaccine passport system despite health officials’ comments to the contrary.
The state’s Department of Public Health recently unveiled the changes, which allow “conferences, live events and performances, stadiums, family entertainment centers and other gatherings to reopen at high capacity if all guests show proof of a negative Covid-19 test result or of full vaccination.”
The move would allow FECs in the state’s orange tier, for instance, to reopen at 50% instead of 25%. In its yellow tier, they’d be allowed to reopen at 75% instead of 50%.
However, concerns over logistics, legality and how ethical such measures are have prompted state assemblyman Kevin Kiley to introduce a bill that would ban such practices. The incentivization also worries advocates who believe such a system would reinforce racial and economic inequities.