On the same day that Orange County posted some of its most positive coronavirus statistics to date – approaching the yellow level – hundreds of protesters gathered to lash out at the Board of Supervisors over a proposal to create “vaccine passports.” , or digital records documenting COVID-19 vaccination status.
Public reaction began in April, after the county announced its plans to launch a pilot accreditation program. Almost immediately, a group of opponents expressed concern that digital records were being used to “track” people and reveal private health information. Opponents also said it would allow the county to favor residents who choose to get vaccinated.
County officials have repeatedly said these claims are not true.
Protesters mill around the Orange County Administration Building, where the Board of Supervisors received public comments on the use of digital records, or “vaccine passports,” to document the COVID-19 vaccination status of a person.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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But inside the meeting room, tensions reached a boiling point after President Andrew Do proposed to present the plan, in an attempt to eliminate distractions and refocus on the county’s vaccination efforts.
“The noise around this whole vaccine passport has reached a level where it is becoming counterproductive,” said Do. “On the eve of our county entering the yellow level – we are about to open up even more – the goal for us, to adequately protect everyone … is going to be vaccination.”
On Tuesday, the county approached the most benevolent level of economic reopening in the state, releasing the first of two weeks of data needed to move forward. Orange County has been at the orange level, or moderate, since March 29.
Supervisor Katrina Foley strongly opposed Do’s proposal to put the digital registry plan on hold, noting that the county’s economy relies heavily on tourism, theme parks, sporting events, and concert venues – many of which are which sell tickets online – and that the digital proof of vaccination could be key so that they can function at their maximum capacity. Foley also expressed concern that the county had already paid to set up the service.
“This is a convenient, voluntary and free choice opportunity for individuals to benefit from their businesses, as well as to continue living their lives,” he said. “We are dealing with a very small faction of our community that is not really going to get vaccinated. They have already told us that they do not believe in vaccines ”.
The pilot program proposal included issuing a QR code for vaccine recipients who signed up for appointments through the county’s Othena app. County officials stressed that digital vaccination records would provide an alternative to paper cards issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which can be easily lost or destroyed.
Many residents were not convinced.
By noon, at least 580 people had lined up to offer public comments during the county meeting, including some from Los Angeles. Each had 30 seconds to speak, and the overwhelming majority took the opportunity to urge county officials to reject the passport. Some also declared that the pandemic is a hoax.
“I will not be intimidated, coerced, harassed in any shape or form … to participate in a massive human experiment,” said one woman, who did not provide her name.
Another speaker cited data from the county, arguing that the majority of Orange County residents who have not yet been vaccinated are against vaccinations and the use of passports.
“It’s not about availability, it’s about the legal right of choice,” he said. “I am a millennial in the prime of life who dreams of having a family, and I am terrified of bringing children into a world that violates their conscience and does not respect their freedom as citizens of the United States of America.”
According to The Times tracker, about 51% of Orange County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 38% are fully vaccinated. The figures are roughly on par with the state, where 49% of residents have received at least one dose and 36% are fully vaccinated. Nationwide, about 58% of adults have received at least one dose, according to the CDC.
But vaccination rates in Orange County are declining, as they are in other parts of the state. The county announced last week that it would close mass vaccination centers at the Anaheim Convention Center, OC Fair & Events Center, Soka University, and Santa Ana College on June 6 due to declining demand. . Moderna’s last first dose appointments were offered on May 8, and Pfizer’s last first dose appointments will be offered on Saturday.
Images posted on social media showed that news of Tuesday’s protest had circulated online and through flyers describing Orange County as “the battlefield of the nation.” Leigh Dundas, an attorney best known for her fierce crusade against childhood immunization laws, took to YouTube to encourage people to flock to the Board of Supervisors meeting.
“I cannot emphasize enough: This is the land where we will die,” he said. “We cannot allow the people of the United States to be segregated or taken prisoner in their own home.”
One protester described the crowd as “patriotic” and said he was there to make it clear that “America in general is not going to be okay with this.”
Behind him, dozens of people chanted and waved American banners and flags. Elsewhere, a pop-up marquee offered Donald Trump merchandise for sale.
Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, director of UC Irvine’s medical ethics program and a member of the Orange County Vaccine Task Force, said Tuesday that he was in favor of COVID-19 vaccines, but also understood the onslaught of opposition.
“I understand why it is becoming so politicized,” he commented, because “if private entities begin to develop policies that deploy that tool as a gatekeeper, then I think the fears and concerns that many people have expressed will be confirmed.”
Kheriaty said the county has already done a good job of vaccinating those who need it most – the elderly and residents with underlying health issues – noting that those who remain unvaccinated may have religious, health or other personal reasons. to refuse the vaccine.
Requiring vaccinations – whether at the government level or simply to get into places like restaurants, airplanes, grocery stores and schools – could put those people at a disadvantage, he said.
“I consider that blocking access to public activities normally available is quite a strong form of coercion,” he said. “I am in favor of letting the person decide. Let the individual weigh their own risks and benefits ”.
But county officials have repeatedly stated that such restrictions would not be included with the digital record.
Do emphasized that the digital “passport” was intended as a complement to paper cards. Eliminating the program would mean that residents would have to keep their own records.
“If it were lost [la tarjeta], you would have to go through the normal process of requesting a duplicate, ”he said, noting that vaccinating the remaining 30% of Orange County residents necessary to achieve herd immunity would be difficult with such resistance.
The debate around vaccine passports is not limited to Orange County. When the state announced in April that some businesses could hold larger events by verifying that attendees were vaccinated, some said it was something of an incentive.
Experts have said that employers, universities and other sectors will likely institute vaccination requirements. At least one person in California has already been arrested and charged with selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Several speakers at Tuesday’s meeting compared vaccines to “gene therapy” and said the proposed passport was similar to the yellow stars that the Nazis ordered Jews to wear as a means of identification.
“The digital passport, the vaccine and the Othena application are the yellow stars that segregate us, which is really the end goal …. They are not going to mark us with a barcode as if we were won. The Nazis also seemed to win for a while, ”said one woman.
Foley said that many of the protesters were the same people who denounced the masks in Orange County last summer. On Tuesday, some were hostile to a Times photographer because he was wearing a mask.
“It’s not about the vaccines, it’s about something else,” Foley said. “We must not please people who spread misinformation and lies.”
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