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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bans COVID-19 vaccine passports: 'Don't tread on our personal freedoms'
Photo by Tom Fox, Getty Images/Blaze Media composite

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bans COVID-19 vaccine passports: 'Don't tread on our personal freedoms'

'These vaccines are always voluntary and never forced'

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has banned government-mandated COVID-19 vaccine passports in a new executive order.

What are the details?

Abbott announced on Tuesday morning the ban on any government-mandated COVID-19 vaccine passports.

The executive order, issued on Monday, prohibits any regulation requiring Texans to show any proof of vaccination.

In a Tuesday morning video, Abbott said, "Every day, Texans return to normalcy as more people get the COVID vaccine. In fact, this week, Texas will surpass 13 million doses administered. Those shots help slow the spread of COVID, reduce hospitalizations, and reduce fatalities. But, as I have said all along, these vaccines are always voluntary and never forced. Government should not require any Texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives. That is why I issued an executive order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas."

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

Early Tuesday morning, Abbott tweeted, "Texans shouldn't be required to show proof of vaccination & reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives. I issued an Executive Order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas. Don't tread on our personal freedoms."

You can read more about Abbott's executive order here.

What else?

The Texas Republican's move follows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) executive order prohibiting vaccine passports.

Of such passports, DeSantis previously 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 participate in normal society. You want to go to a movie theater, should you have to show that? No. You want to go to a game, a theme park? No. So we're not supportive of that."

DeSantis added, "You're going to do this and, what, give all this information to some big corporation? You want the fox to guard the hen house? I mean, give me a break."

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