With the rise of COVID-19 vaccinations and the return to a “normal” life, the concept of a COVID-19 vaccine passport gained traction on Twitter and other social media platforms. Some of these posts include calling these passports unconstitutional, citing privacy concerns, which while somewhat understandable, is fraudulent.

I call these ideas fraudulent not to say that I am OK with constant surveillance, but because this is not the main concern of those who call it that. Secondly, the constitution allows the government to infringe on some of our rights during a national emergency. After over a half a million deaths in the U.S, I certainly would consider this to be a national emergency.

The U.S. and almost every country in the world require vaccinations and proof of getting them. Before one can enter a kindergarten classroom, they must have a certificate that they received the vaccines for a variety of diseases such as polio, chickenpox and others. While this varies by state, every state has these requirements. 

The idea that the government is tracking us with the COVID-19 vaccine is such a joke, I am sorry. Almost every adult in this country has a smart phone or cellular device that actually tracks us. Every single user of social media has already signed his or her privacy rights away for the most part, as social media platforms sell information to advertisers. Is the vaccine – that is being administered globally – really where some people draw the line?

The real reason for this COVID-19 passport is certainly not to infringe on HIPAA laws. It is not meant to act as something to restrict one’s rights or turn the American democracy into fasism. The real issue is that 26% of Americans do not plan on getting the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Gallup. Twenty-six percent of Americans will prolong this plague, many of them doing this for selfish reasons.

This is not a piece knocking everyone who refuses to get the vaccine. Many underprivileged Americans do not trust the current healthcare system and healthcare workers due to poor health in underprivileged and minority communities. These Americans have been burned in the past from the current health system. They have experienced things I will never understand, but I hope people they trust will be able to show the safety and importance of this vaccine.

The vaccine passport is something meant to help us return to normal, not stray away from it. In 1937, the World Health Organization issued a Yellow Card, or certificate of proof that said person had been vaccinated for yellow fever. To this day, U.S. travelers still use it to travel to parts of South America and Africa. We are still using this but there has not been outrage, why you might ask? Because COVID-19 has become a political issue, unlike yellow fever.

In all honesty, I do not understand how this is a “civil rights crisis.” This passport will not last forever. Just like face masks, COVID-19 passports will eventually disappear but only when the time is right. Despite this, politicians and political parties continue to make ridiculous slippery slope arguments that I cannot help but get frustrated with.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted, “The [COVID-19 passport] proposal is one of the must un-American ideas in our nation’s history. We as Americans should oppose this oppression.”

Is this really oppression? Is this really what we need to worry about? I would argue that things like the wage gap, unequal access to education and about 1,000 other things lead to way more tangible examples of oppression.

One last tweet that really made me sick was from the Libertarian Party of Kentucky. It writes, “Are the vaccine passports going to be yellow, shaped like a star, and sewn on our clothes,” alluding to the yellow stars with “Jude” written on them that Nazi Germany forced Jews to wear.

This party really just compared a health crisis to a mass genocide. It is such a heinous comparison, but it still stung as I read those ridiculous words. I still cannot believe that someone thought to tweet this. A few days later, the party offered a nonapology, saying it started a conversation that needed to be had.

The conversation should not be about facism or oppressing Americans. The passport is about ensuring the safety of every American man, woman and child, so nobody has to experience this level of pain, anxiety and tension ever again.