New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Yesterday Gov. Charlie Baker stated that he is looking at the possibility of a vaccination identification system similar to what some other states are currently doing. He had resisted talk of so-called vaccine “passports” this past spring.
“We’ve been talking to those folks and working through how that would work here in the Commonwealth. I certainly think it’s going to be an important thing to have.” he said on GBH radio.
The Governor was referencing Arizona, California, Hawaii, and specifically New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Excelsior Pass program” which is a voluntary digital vaccination verification system that you can use with your smartphones. Residents in states like Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Dakota, Washington, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia have digital access to their vaccination records, and pairing that with a phone app would be a relatively easy way to demonstrate proof of vaccination.
“It’s getting to the point where there’s a relatively simple process for people to credential the fact that they’ve been vaccinated and this will be important for a whole bunch of reasons…especially in case they don’t have access to their vaccination card.” he continued.
Recently there has been an increase in the number of bars, clubs, restaurants, and theaters that have opted to require vaccination proof for entrance, most noticeably the Zeiterion Theater.
