Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed an Executive Order on Monday banning “vaccine passports” and preventing the state and local governments from requiring residents to provide coronavirus vaccination status to receive service or enter an area.
“The residents of our state should not be required by the government to share their private medical information,” Ducey said. “While we strongly recommend all Arizonans get the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s not mandated in our state — and it never will be. Vaccination is up to each individual, not the government.”
The governor’s office said in a statement:
Under the Executive Order, state agencies, counties, cities and towns cannot issue a measure that requires an individual to provide documentation of their COVID-19 vaccination status in order to enter a business, building or area or to receive a government service, permit or license. Businesses contracting with the state to provide services to the public also cannot require documentation.
The statement later added that private businesses “are not prohibited from requiring vaccination documentation in order to provide services or allow entry.”
Ducey’s Executive Order falls short of the Executive Order signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) earlier this year, which bans businesses from requiring vaccine documentation from customers.
DeSantis’ Executive Order stated (emphasis added):
Section 1. No Florida government entity, or its subdivisions, agents, or assigns, shall be permitted to issue vaccine passports, vaccine passes, or other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination status to a third party, or otherwise publish or share any individual’s COVID-19 vaccination record or similar health information.
Section 2. Businesses in Florida are prohibited from requiring patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business.
Section 3. All executive agencies under my direction shall work to ensure businesses comply with this order. Any provision of Florida Statutes is hereby suspended solely to the extent it restricts a Florida agency from requiring compliance with this order as a condition for a license, permit, or other state authorization necessary for conducting business in Florida.
Section 4. All businesses must comply with this order to be eligible for grants or contracts funded through state revenue.
Section 5. The requirements m this order do not otherwise restrict businesses from instituting COVID-19 screening protocols in accordance with state and federal law to protect public health, and nothing herein shall be construed to interfere with individuals’ rights to access their own personal health information under federal law.
Section 6. This order is effective immediately and shall remain in effect for the duration of Executive Order 20-52, as extended.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an Executive Order earlier this month banning government-mandated vaccine passports.
“But, as I have said all along, these vaccines are always voluntary and never forced,” Abbott said. “Government should not require any Texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives.”
Sound on: pic.twitter.com/UgrO6YFgxh
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 6, 2021