Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Vaccine Passports

By: Alana DeRose

palmcoastobserver.com

On Monday May 3, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB-2006 that bans Covid-19 passports in the state among other things.

On July 1 this bill will prohibit schools, businesses and government agencies from requiring people to show that they've been vaccinated or post-infection recovery before being able to enter.

This will replace the executive order DeSantis signed in April that does the same thing in the intervening time.

"I think it's the evidence-based thing to do. I think folks that are saying that they need to be policing people at this point, if you're saying that you really are saying you don't believe in the vaccines, you don't believe in the data you don't believe in the science."

DeSantis stated at St. Petersburg restaurant where he signed the bill.

This is just days after the CDC announced that the cruise industry may be able to restart in mid-July with 95% of passengers vaccinated and Florida is a hot spot for cruising.

The governor is a strong advocate for the restart of cruising but believes private businesses shouldn't require a vaccine from customers.

"I'm very supportive of getting our cruise lines back up and running. We think they should be able to sail. But we also think that they shouldn't require your personal health information in that regard."

DeSantis shared in a recent interview.

Critics believe that DeSantis only did this in order to appeal to those opposed to the vaccine and would delay the restart of the cruise industry.

However, cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean have not fully decided if they would require a full vaccination of passengers on board it's ships, while Carnival and Norwegian cruise lines do.