Gov. Murphy Clarifies His Stance On NJ COVID 'Vaccine Passports'

TRENTON, NJ — At his press conference Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy clarified his support for requiring a "vaccine passport" to prove one has been vaccinated against the coronavirus in order to board planes or enter sporting events.

"I was asked about the vaccination passport, if I was open-minded to it at one point. I said 'Yeah, that's something that I'd be open minded to,'" said the governor. "I don't want anyone to think that we're up here pounding the table, to think that this is something we unquestionably support. The CDC is the place that that discussion and that guidance has to come from."

Murphy gave this reply in response to an unnamed reporter asking him at the press conference, "In what situations do you envision people having to show their vaccine cards as a passport?"

On Friday, Murphy was asked by a CNBC reporter on Squawk Box about the possibility of people have to show their vaccine card to get places.

“Don’t get rid of the card, that’s likely to be something valuable,” Murphy replied. “Laminate it and put it in your wallet. The CDC clearly takes the lead and we have our own independent process. In terms of what value that card might have in terms of your own personal health, to be determined. But that is under consideration.

"There are lots of different potential uses for that, whether it's going to a sporting event, getting on a plane, etc. So hold onto it and we will first and foremost take our guidance from the CDC."

Vaccine passports is an emerging idea, although some have pushed back against the concept.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a press release his state partnered with IBM to test the "Excelsior Pass," a smartphone app that shows one has been vaccinated or recently tested negative for COVID. It was first tested Feb. 27, to get into a Brooklyn Nets game at the Barclays Center. The app was tested a second time during the New York Rangers game on March 2 at Madison Square Garden.

Murphy's remarks prompted some, many of them Republican, to say Murphy was floating the idea of a "vaccine passport."

“Wowsers. Gov. Phil Murphy's suggestion that Garden Staters could be required to show proof of vaccine is a health privacy minefield,” Will Reinert of the Republican Governors Association said on Friday, immediately after Murphy's interview aired. “Hard-working New Jersey residents have the right to keep their healthcare decisions between themselves and their doctor."

And on Monday, Reinert stepped up the attack, suggesting vaccine passports could function as "pandemic redlining," citing reports that show lower percentages of non-white residents have gotten vaccinated.

Politico is reporting that White House Covid-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said last week: “Americans are asking the question, ‘How will I be able to demonstrate reliably that I have been vaccinated?' We have a couple of core beliefs about that. One is that it’s not the role of the government to hold that data and to do that.“

As of Monday, approximately 3.5 million vaccine doses have been given out in New Jersey, and 1.2 million residents have been fully vaccinated. The state is roughly halfway to its initial goal of getting 4.7 million vaccinated this spring, said Murphy.

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