'Don't tread on our personal freedoms': Texas Gov. Greg Abbott becomes latest to ban Biden's vaccine passports because residents 'shouldn't need proof to go about their daily lives'

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April 6, 2021 The Daily Mail by Caitlin Carlile

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order Tuesday prohibiting government from requiring some sort of 'vaccine passport' 

'Texans shouldn't be required to show proof of vaccination & reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives,' he tweeted 

He added: 'Don't tread on our personal freedoms'

The executive order comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, took the same action last week banning the passport proposal

Greg Abbott on Tuesday became the latest Republican governor to snub President Joe Biden's proposed vaccine passports in issuing an executive order prohibiting the government from requiring Texans show proof of inoculation.

'Texans shouldn't be required to show proof of vaccination & reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives,' the Texas Republican governor tweeted along with a video message 'I issued an Executive Order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas.'

He added: 'Don't tread on our personal freedoms.'

These vaccines are always voluntary and never forced,' Abbott said in his video message on Twitter Tuesday morning, adding encouragement for Texans to get the jab.

'We will continue to vaccinate more Texans and protect public health,' he continued, 'and we will do so without treading on Texans' personal freedoms.'

Texas is the most populous red state – and Abbott says 13 million vaccine doses have been administered of its 29 million citizens.

On Sunday, the Texas Rangers' home opening game saw a packed stadium of fans as further proof of a return to normalcy in the Lone Star State.

Governor DeSantis signed an emergency order Friday banning so-called 'vaccine passports', claiming they would create 'two classes of citizens'.

The order prevents any state-run organization and private business from demanding that their staff or customers show a vaccine passport to work there or gain services.

In a press conference last Monday DeSantis said: 'It's completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society.'

'Requiring so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports for taking part in everyday life — such as attending a sporting event, patronizing a restaurant, or going to a movie theater — would create two classs,' he added.

The Texas Rangers' home opening game Sunday was packed with non socially distanced fans as the state continues to open at a more rapid pace than other states

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Non-mask wearing fans cheered on the Rangers Sunday

While DeSantis and Abbott are the only governors who have issued official orders banning the passport idea, other Republicans have harshly condemned the proposal.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called it 'Biden's mark of the beast,' and demanded GOP Governor Brian Kemp ban it in the Peach State. Others have called it 'dystopian' and reminiscent of 'Nazi Germany.'

The Biden administration said there are at least 17 different passport initiatives being developed by public and private entities.

The World Health Organization is also working to develop a 'smart vaccination certificate.'

The White House, however, said last week it would not impose any restrictions at the federal level related to vaccine passports, like keeping a nationwide database of those inoculated.

Gov. DeSantis says Florida will not being doing vaccine passports. MORE HERE

 

 

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