<![CDATA[The Catacombs - COVID Passports]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 04:55:08 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[‘Really chilling’: Five countries to test European vaccination card]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=6354 Thu, 01 Aug 2024 10:18:01 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=6354 <![CDATA[Biden admin dropping COVID jab mandate for foreign travelers, federal employees next week]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=5137 Tue, 02 May 2023 17:31:06 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=5137 Biden admin dropping COVID jab mandate for foreign travelers, federal employees next week

Mon May 1, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews - adapted) — The Biden administration will finally scrap its COVID-19 jab mandate for foreigners traveling to the United States on May 11, the day that the federal government is allowing its federal COVID-19 public health emergency to expire. The rollback comes more than three years after the start of the COVID-19 epidemic and follows a February effort by Republican lawmakers to end the rule.

The Biden White House announced the imminent end of the mandate in a May 1 statement, citing declining COVID-related death rates and the “whole-of-government” effort to achieve wide levels of vaccine uptake as reasons for dropping the mandates.

“Today, we are announcing that the Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for Federal employees, Federal contractors, and international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends,” the White House statement read.

Federal employees and contractors will also no longer be required to get the experimental shot.

The statement also referred to announcements by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicating those agencies will also “start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border.”

The announcement came days after The Daily Mail reported Thursday that, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was revising the jab rule for international travelers, it was stopping short of actually doing away with the mandate.

The mandate for foreign travelers to the U.S., which has persisted far longer than many other such mandates, drew increased attention when Serbian Christian tennis pro Novak Djokovic was barred from competing in the U.S. Open because he has steadfastly refused to get the shot.

Monday’s announcement, however, means Djokovic will once again be allowed to compete in U.S. tournaments after being forced to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells last month due to the jab rule. Prior to being barred from entering the U.S. over his vaccination status, the tennis star was previously  detained in Australia when he traveled to the country amid ongoing COVID mandates to play in the Australian Open, LifeSiteNews reported.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is anticipated to launch a bid for the presidency this month, previously argued that Djokovic should have been allowed to compete in the U.S., slamming the federal jab rule as “unscientific.”

“The only thing keeping Novak Djokovic from participating in the Miami Open tennis tournament is President Biden’s misguided and unscientific COVID-19 vaccination requirement for foreigner [sic] travelers,” the governor said in a March 7 letter to President Biden.

“In sum, the current ‘travel ban’ as applied to Mr. Djokovic – and presumably millions of other potential unvaccinated foreign visitors – seems completely ungrounded in logic, common sense, or any genuine concern for the health and welfare of the American people,” DeSantis said.

The end of the COVID injection mandates comes as ongoing research indicates that COVID-related mask and jab mandates were ineffective. In addition, the value of the experimental COVID shots has been called into serious question amid the shots’ sliding efficacy, failure to stop transmission, and reports of serious adverse events. Across the country, intrusive public health measures like mask mandates and vaccine requirements have caused lasting societal harm, drawn serious public backlash, and created division among Americans.]]> Biden admin dropping COVID jab mandate for foreign travelers, federal employees next week

Mon May 1, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews - adapted) — The Biden administration will finally scrap its COVID-19 jab mandate for foreigners traveling to the United States on May 11, the day that the federal government is allowing its federal COVID-19 public health emergency to expire. The rollback comes more than three years after the start of the COVID-19 epidemic and follows a February effort by Republican lawmakers to end the rule.

The Biden White House announced the imminent end of the mandate in a May 1 statement, citing declining COVID-related death rates and the “whole-of-government” effort to achieve wide levels of vaccine uptake as reasons for dropping the mandates.

“Today, we are announcing that the Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for Federal employees, Federal contractors, and international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends,” the White House statement read.

Federal employees and contractors will also no longer be required to get the experimental shot.

The statement also referred to announcements by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicating those agencies will also “start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border.”

The announcement came days after The Daily Mail reported Thursday that, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was revising the jab rule for international travelers, it was stopping short of actually doing away with the mandate.

The mandate for foreign travelers to the U.S., which has persisted far longer than many other such mandates, drew increased attention when Serbian Christian tennis pro Novak Djokovic was barred from competing in the U.S. Open because he has steadfastly refused to get the shot.

Monday’s announcement, however, means Djokovic will once again be allowed to compete in U.S. tournaments after being forced to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells last month due to the jab rule. Prior to being barred from entering the U.S. over his vaccination status, the tennis star was previously  detained in Australia when he traveled to the country amid ongoing COVID mandates to play in the Australian Open, LifeSiteNews reported.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is anticipated to launch a bid for the presidency this month, previously argued that Djokovic should have been allowed to compete in the U.S., slamming the federal jab rule as “unscientific.”

“The only thing keeping Novak Djokovic from participating in the Miami Open tennis tournament is President Biden’s misguided and unscientific COVID-19 vaccination requirement for foreigner [sic] travelers,” the governor said in a March 7 letter to President Biden.

“In sum, the current ‘travel ban’ as applied to Mr. Djokovic – and presumably millions of other potential unvaccinated foreign visitors – seems completely ungrounded in logic, common sense, or any genuine concern for the health and welfare of the American people,” DeSantis said.

The end of the COVID injection mandates comes as ongoing research indicates that COVID-related mask and jab mandates were ineffective. In addition, the value of the experimental COVID shots has been called into serious question amid the shots’ sliding efficacy, failure to stop transmission, and reports of serious adverse events. Across the country, intrusive public health measures like mask mandates and vaccine requirements have caused lasting societal harm, drawn serious public backlash, and created division among Americans.]]> <![CDATA[Germany announces color-coded vaccine passport system similar to Communist China’s]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4096 Tue, 16 Aug 2022 11:25:32 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4096 Germany announces color-coded vaccine passport system similar to Communist China’s
Those who aren't 'freshly vaccinated' will be subject to restrictions.
[Image: shutterstock_1925777180-810x500.jpg]
Vaccination passport


Aug 15, 2022
(Reclaim the Net) – German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has announced that the nation’s digital contact tracing and vaccine passport app, Corona-Warn-App (CWA), will start assigning different colors to citizens based on whether they received a COVID-19 vaccine within the last three months.

The CWA will assign one color to citizens who add proof that they received a vaccine within the last three months and a different color to citizens who add proof of vaccination that’s more than three months old. Only those with the color showing that they’re “freshly vaccinated” (have received a vaccine within the last three months) will be exempt from Germany’s mask requirement in public indoor spaces.

Other citizens, including those who received multiple vaccines but had their last vaccine more than three months ago, will have to show proof of recent recovery from COVID or a current negative test to get an exemption from this mask requirement.

Germany’s Berliner Zeitung noted that the color codes in the vaccine passport app would “give different rights in the future” and said the system would put citizens who are already quadruple vaccinated on the same legal footing as those who are unvaccinated.

Berliner Zeitung also reported that this new German vaccine passport system would be similar to Communist China’s color code vaccine passport system. China’s system assigns a green, yellow, or red code to citizens. Those with a green code are allowed to move freely, those with a yellow code may be asked to stay home for seven days, and those with a red code have to quarantine for two weeks.

Despite moving to this color code vaccine passport system, Lauterbach has admitted that the goalposts could shift at any time and that if too many freshly vaccinated people make use of the mask exception, Germany will change the rules and close the exception.

Lauterbach, who is quadruple vaccinated, announced this new color code vaccine passport system four days after he contracted COVID. The new system is being introduced as part of Germany’s “Infection Protection Act.”

Health agencies defended the rollout of vaccine passports and other COVID surveillance measures by claiming that they would prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, in recent weeks, government health experts have admitted that COVID vaccines don’t prevent infection.

Despite this admission, Germany and other nations are continuing to push far-reaching, restrictive vaccine passport systems. Some countries are also combining vaccine passports with digital ID or rolling out more invasive COVID surveillance devices such as wristbands and ankle bracelets.]]> Germany announces color-coded vaccine passport system similar to Communist China’s
Those who aren't 'freshly vaccinated' will be subject to restrictions.
[Image: shutterstock_1925777180-810x500.jpg]
Vaccination passport


Aug 15, 2022
(Reclaim the Net) – German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has announced that the nation’s digital contact tracing and vaccine passport app, Corona-Warn-App (CWA), will start assigning different colors to citizens based on whether they received a COVID-19 vaccine within the last three months.

The CWA will assign one color to citizens who add proof that they received a vaccine within the last three months and a different color to citizens who add proof of vaccination that’s more than three months old. Only those with the color showing that they’re “freshly vaccinated” (have received a vaccine within the last three months) will be exempt from Germany’s mask requirement in public indoor spaces.

Other citizens, including those who received multiple vaccines but had their last vaccine more than three months ago, will have to show proof of recent recovery from COVID or a current negative test to get an exemption from this mask requirement.

Germany’s Berliner Zeitung noted that the color codes in the vaccine passport app would “give different rights in the future” and said the system would put citizens who are already quadruple vaccinated on the same legal footing as those who are unvaccinated.

Berliner Zeitung also reported that this new German vaccine passport system would be similar to Communist China’s color code vaccine passport system. China’s system assigns a green, yellow, or red code to citizens. Those with a green code are allowed to move freely, those with a yellow code may be asked to stay home for seven days, and those with a red code have to quarantine for two weeks.

Despite moving to this color code vaccine passport system, Lauterbach has admitted that the goalposts could shift at any time and that if too many freshly vaccinated people make use of the mask exception, Germany will change the rules and close the exception.

Lauterbach, who is quadruple vaccinated, announced this new color code vaccine passport system four days after he contracted COVID. The new system is being introduced as part of Germany’s “Infection Protection Act.”

Health agencies defended the rollout of vaccine passports and other COVID surveillance measures by claiming that they would prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, in recent weeks, government health experts have admitted that COVID vaccines don’t prevent infection.

Despite this admission, Germany and other nations are continuing to push far-reaching, restrictive vaccine passport systems. Some countries are also combining vaccine passports with digital ID or rolling out more invasive COVID surveillance devices such as wristbands and ankle bracelets.]]> <![CDATA[National SMART Vaccine Passport Quietly Rolls Out in US]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3450 Fri, 25 Feb 2022 22:49:27 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3450 <![CDATA[EU wants to extend Covid passports until June 30th]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3348 Thu, 03 Feb 2022 19:38:58 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3348 <![CDATA[Quebec Scraps Planned Tax On Unvaccinated Residents Amid Growing Backlash]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3340 Wed, 02 Feb 2022 14:41:52 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3340 <![CDATA[Unvaccinated to be Accompanied by Staff to Make Sure They Don’t Buy Anything Other Than Esssentials]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3311 Wed, 26 Jan 2022 11:39:34 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3311 <![CDATA[Quietly and over some objections, a national digital vaccine card has emerged]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3251 Sat, 15 Jan 2022 13:00:33 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3251 Quietly and over some objections, a national digital vaccine card has emerged
The SMART Health Card is voluntary and minimal by design to protect personal information. About 80 percent of vaccinated people in the U.S. most likely have access to it.

[Image: 220113-vaccine-qr-code-mn-1530-adbf33.jpg]
University of Southern California students, faculty and visitors use their phones to display their "Trojan Check" QR code
 to enter the campus in Los Angeles on Aug. 23.Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images


NBC | Jan. 13, 2022

Whether they realize it or not, about 200 million people in the United States now likely have access to a Covid-19 digital vaccine card.

The digital pass known as the SMART Health Card is voluntary and minimal by design to protect personal information. It has a person’s name, date of birth and the dates and brands of vaccination doses, all contained within a type of scannable bar code known as a QR code.

And after a relatively quiet start, it has built momentum in recent months as more states and companies have signed on, making it something of a de facto national digital vaccine card.

“The beautiful thing about this is that this multistate coalition is a coalition of the willing,” said Dr. Brian Anderson, chief digital health physician at MITRE, a research nonprofit, and an architect of the health cards.

Video: June 2021: Should people have to prove they got their shots with vaccine passports?

Any such card seemed like a remote possibility a year ago, when people first began receiving paper cards as proof of their Covid vaccinations. The Biden administration said in March that it would not take the lead on any national health pass and instead defer to the private sector, and the idea of a vaccine “passport” has faced opposition and even bans, especially in Republican-led states such as Alabama and Texas.

Rather than a single app, the SMART Health Card is open-source computer code that anyone can use to ping a verified source of health data and produce the unique QR code. The digital cards are now widely available from more than 400 sources including states, pharmacies and health care organizations.

The fact that the system exists in any form is a triumph for a loose coalition of technologists, nonprofit groups and mostly Democratic states that championed the development of a digital vaccine card even before the first coronavirus shots were administered.

“This is a de facto standard,” said Rick Klau, California’s chief technology innovation officer. “This is essentially the one common way for residents to secure that digital copy and then use it.”

The digital card offers a few benefits beyond a paper card. QR codes can't be forged in the way a paper card could be, because a restaurant or a music venue can use a scanner app to verify that it's legitimate. People can also download the QR code again if they lose it, adding a convenience factor.

People can get the QR code from their state health authority if they've been vaccinated in one of the 13 states now participating, but they may also be able to get them from a hospital or from a national pharmacy chain, such as Albertsons, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens or stores like Walmart if they've been vaccinated at any of their locations.

Vaccine QR codes are also spreading internationally. Japan launched a similar system last month, and Ontario, Canada, is requiring people to have scannable proof of vaccination to eat inside restaurants or go inside certain other businesses. QR codes are increasingly required as part of international airline travel.

Within the U.S., the QR codes are still voluntary. California and Louisiana became the first states to roll out the SMART Health Card last June, and the number of issuers grew slowly at first before picking up pace over time.

Colorado signed on in November, followed by Connecticut and Illinois in December. On Monday, Massachusetts became the 13th state to voluntarily embrace the system, and another 10 or so states are privately exploring the possibility, Anderson said.

Washington has issued about 840,000 QR codes, according to the state’s health department. That’s equivalent to about 11 percent of the state’s population. The numbers in Colorado and New Jersey are similar.

The QR codes work on paper, too, if people would rather print them out than keep them on a phone.

Klau, a former manager at Google, has advised other states as they put the system in place. In California alone, 7 million individuals have downloaded their QR code, and he estimated that about 80 percent of the vaccinated U.S. population of 247 million people have access to a SMART Health Card if they want one through either their state health authority or the site where they were vaccinated, such as a pharmacy or a hospital.

“It’s inspiring to see what has largely been a grassroots effort not only take hold, but develop so completely,” he said. “It has certainly not been mandated.”

A critical feature is that the QR codes are standardized and interoperable, so they work across state lines. A resident of New Jersey visiting San Francisco can use the same system to prove vaccination as a Californian.

And they can work internationally. Countries including the United Kingdom, Israel and Singapore have said they’ll recognize the QR codes if Americans present them abroad, Klau said.

It’s not clear if the Biden administration will ever endorse the project. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to requests for comment.

“It has forced many states to take leadership roles in implementing and coordinating around multistate coalitions,” said Anderson, who is also co-lead of the Vaccine Credential Initiative, or VCI.

Anderson said other countries haven’t always known whom to speak with in the U.S. to plan cross-border systems. “They’re turning to the states, they’re turning to VCI, and it’s a challenge for a state to conduct foreign diplomacy,” he said.

One barrier to creating a truly national digital vaccine card is that there’s no federal database of vaccination records. Each state maintains its own registry of vaccination records, so either the states or the health care providers need to be the ones to issue verified copies or credentials.

Some of the most thorny political questions remain up in the air nationally, including: Should a business have the right to turn away someone without a vaccine QR code? Or in a pandemic, should a city or state even require businesses to turn people away, as in Canada? What about people who, for health reasons, can't get a vaccine?

“We won’t be safe until venues are able to *require* SMART Health QR codes and stop accepting paper cards, or photos of cards. And that won’t happen until state or local governments mandate that,” said Jamie Zawinski, a software developer who also owns a night club, DNA Lounge, in San Francisco. He requires customers to have the QR code or, for now, their paper CDC card.

DNA Lounge not only requires people to display the QR code, but it also scans the code using a smartphone app to verify that the codes are authentic — making the club one of the few businesses anywhere in the U.S. to take that extra step.

The primary scanning app available, the SMART Health Card Verifier App, has been used about 750,000 times this month, and the trend line indicates usage is doubling month over month, Anderson said. He said he doesn’t know where the scanning is happening, because by design neither the health card’s creators nor the states have the ability to collect that data.

Only a few places in the U.S. require proof of vaccination to enter indoor businesses, and that list is growing slowly. A mandate in Boston is scheduled to take effect Saturday, even as Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, has pushed to keep the state system voluntary.

“The Administration is not requiring residents to show proof of vaccination to enter any venue, but this tool will help residents who would like to access and produce a digital copy of their record,” his office said in a statement.

The idea that airlines or even local businesses could attempt to collect data from digital health cards remains a chief concern for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group in San Francisco that advocates for privacy online and that criticized the health cards last June soon after California adopted them.

“The scanning of your health information at the door of any business still worries me because generally we do not have a federal data privacy law,” said Alexis Hancock, EFF’s director of engineering. She pointed to software, unrelated to vaccines, that venues can use to scan driver’s licenses.

That danger could be lessened, she said, if Congress or state legislators pass new consumer protections. A bill pending in the New York state Legislature would create new safeguards for medical immunity information.

But Hancock also said the SMART Health Cards have alleviated at least some of EFF's concerns about digital vaccine records by making the computer code behind the cards open-source, which allows others to inspect it, and nonproprietary.

"Obviously, a lot has happened since last year," she said.]]> Quietly and over some objections, a national digital vaccine card has emerged
The SMART Health Card is voluntary and minimal by design to protect personal information. About 80 percent of vaccinated people in the U.S. most likely have access to it.

[Image: 220113-vaccine-qr-code-mn-1530-adbf33.jpg]
University of Southern California students, faculty and visitors use their phones to display their "Trojan Check" QR code
 to enter the campus in Los Angeles on Aug. 23.Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images


NBC | Jan. 13, 2022

Whether they realize it or not, about 200 million people in the United States now likely have access to a Covid-19 digital vaccine card.

The digital pass known as the SMART Health Card is voluntary and minimal by design to protect personal information. It has a person’s name, date of birth and the dates and brands of vaccination doses, all contained within a type of scannable bar code known as a QR code.

And after a relatively quiet start, it has built momentum in recent months as more states and companies have signed on, making it something of a de facto national digital vaccine card.

“The beautiful thing about this is that this multistate coalition is a coalition of the willing,” said Dr. Brian Anderson, chief digital health physician at MITRE, a research nonprofit, and an architect of the health cards.

Video: June 2021: Should people have to prove they got their shots with vaccine passports?

Any such card seemed like a remote possibility a year ago, when people first began receiving paper cards as proof of their Covid vaccinations. The Biden administration said in March that it would not take the lead on any national health pass and instead defer to the private sector, and the idea of a vaccine “passport” has faced opposition and even bans, especially in Republican-led states such as Alabama and Texas.

Rather than a single app, the SMART Health Card is open-source computer code that anyone can use to ping a verified source of health data and produce the unique QR code. The digital cards are now widely available from more than 400 sources including states, pharmacies and health care organizations.

The fact that the system exists in any form is a triumph for a loose coalition of technologists, nonprofit groups and mostly Democratic states that championed the development of a digital vaccine card even before the first coronavirus shots were administered.

“This is a de facto standard,” said Rick Klau, California’s chief technology innovation officer. “This is essentially the one common way for residents to secure that digital copy and then use it.”

The digital card offers a few benefits beyond a paper card. QR codes can't be forged in the way a paper card could be, because a restaurant or a music venue can use a scanner app to verify that it's legitimate. People can also download the QR code again if they lose it, adding a convenience factor.

People can get the QR code from their state health authority if they've been vaccinated in one of the 13 states now participating, but they may also be able to get them from a hospital or from a national pharmacy chain, such as Albertsons, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens or stores like Walmart if they've been vaccinated at any of their locations.

Vaccine QR codes are also spreading internationally. Japan launched a similar system last month, and Ontario, Canada, is requiring people to have scannable proof of vaccination to eat inside restaurants or go inside certain other businesses. QR codes are increasingly required as part of international airline travel.

Within the U.S., the QR codes are still voluntary. California and Louisiana became the first states to roll out the SMART Health Card last June, and the number of issuers grew slowly at first before picking up pace over time.

Colorado signed on in November, followed by Connecticut and Illinois in December. On Monday, Massachusetts became the 13th state to voluntarily embrace the system, and another 10 or so states are privately exploring the possibility, Anderson said.

Washington has issued about 840,000 QR codes, according to the state’s health department. That’s equivalent to about 11 percent of the state’s population. The numbers in Colorado and New Jersey are similar.

The QR codes work on paper, too, if people would rather print them out than keep them on a phone.

Klau, a former manager at Google, has advised other states as they put the system in place. In California alone, 7 million individuals have downloaded their QR code, and he estimated that about 80 percent of the vaccinated U.S. population of 247 million people have access to a SMART Health Card if they want one through either their state health authority or the site where they were vaccinated, such as a pharmacy or a hospital.

“It’s inspiring to see what has largely been a grassroots effort not only take hold, but develop so completely,” he said. “It has certainly not been mandated.”

A critical feature is that the QR codes are standardized and interoperable, so they work across state lines. A resident of New Jersey visiting San Francisco can use the same system to prove vaccination as a Californian.

And they can work internationally. Countries including the United Kingdom, Israel and Singapore have said they’ll recognize the QR codes if Americans present them abroad, Klau said.

It’s not clear if the Biden administration will ever endorse the project. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to requests for comment.

“It has forced many states to take leadership roles in implementing and coordinating around multistate coalitions,” said Anderson, who is also co-lead of the Vaccine Credential Initiative, or VCI.

Anderson said other countries haven’t always known whom to speak with in the U.S. to plan cross-border systems. “They’re turning to the states, they’re turning to VCI, and it’s a challenge for a state to conduct foreign diplomacy,” he said.

One barrier to creating a truly national digital vaccine card is that there’s no federal database of vaccination records. Each state maintains its own registry of vaccination records, so either the states or the health care providers need to be the ones to issue verified copies or credentials.

Some of the most thorny political questions remain up in the air nationally, including: Should a business have the right to turn away someone without a vaccine QR code? Or in a pandemic, should a city or state even require businesses to turn people away, as in Canada? What about people who, for health reasons, can't get a vaccine?

“We won’t be safe until venues are able to *require* SMART Health QR codes and stop accepting paper cards, or photos of cards. And that won’t happen until state or local governments mandate that,” said Jamie Zawinski, a software developer who also owns a night club, DNA Lounge, in San Francisco. He requires customers to have the QR code or, for now, their paper CDC card.

DNA Lounge not only requires people to display the QR code, but it also scans the code using a smartphone app to verify that the codes are authentic — making the club one of the few businesses anywhere in the U.S. to take that extra step.

The primary scanning app available, the SMART Health Card Verifier App, has been used about 750,000 times this month, and the trend line indicates usage is doubling month over month, Anderson said. He said he doesn’t know where the scanning is happening, because by design neither the health card’s creators nor the states have the ability to collect that data.

Only a few places in the U.S. require proof of vaccination to enter indoor businesses, and that list is growing slowly. A mandate in Boston is scheduled to take effect Saturday, even as Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, has pushed to keep the state system voluntary.

“The Administration is not requiring residents to show proof of vaccination to enter any venue, but this tool will help residents who would like to access and produce a digital copy of their record,” his office said in a statement.

The idea that airlines or even local businesses could attempt to collect data from digital health cards remains a chief concern for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group in San Francisco that advocates for privacy online and that criticized the health cards last June soon after California adopted them.

“The scanning of your health information at the door of any business still worries me because generally we do not have a federal data privacy law,” said Alexis Hancock, EFF’s director of engineering. She pointed to software, unrelated to vaccines, that venues can use to scan driver’s licenses.

That danger could be lessened, she said, if Congress or state legislators pass new consumer protections. A bill pending in the New York state Legislature would create new safeguards for medical immunity information.

But Hancock also said the SMART Health Cards have alleviated at least some of EFF's concerns about digital vaccine records by making the computer code behind the cards open-source, which allows others to inspect it, and nonproprietary.

"Obviously, a lot has happened since last year," she said.]]> <![CDATA[European "vaccination certificates" lacking the "booster" injection invalid after 9 months]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3119 Tue, 21 Dec 2021 12:24:22 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3119 <![CDATA[Judge Blocks Biden's Nationwide Vax Mandate For Federal Contractors]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3050 Tue, 07 Dec 2021 19:50:43 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3050 <![CDATA[NYC to Require Full Vaccination to Access Restaurants, Gyms, Etc.; 5-Year-Olds Need Min. One Shot]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3042 Mon, 06 Dec 2021 23:07:52 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3042 <![CDATA[Spanish Investigation Finds Vaccine Passports Have No Impact On Infection Rates]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3022 Sat, 04 Dec 2021 14:53:15 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3022 Spanish Investigation Finds Vaccine Passports Have No Impact On Infection Rates

[Image: 031221vaxxpass1.jpg?itok=Vu4PRj1x]

ZH | DEC 04, 2021
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

An investigation by experts in Spain has concluded that vaccine passports have no significant impact on reducing COVID-19 infection rates.

Details of the study, carried out by Spain’s inter-regional Covid committee, were obtained by El Pais and reported on by the Telegraph.

Looking at how the scheme has been implemented in other European countries, the experts found that mandating people show proof of vaccination to enter venues like bars, restaurants and cinemas “is not reducing levels of transmission.”

“In European countries where [the system] is being used, cases are rising significantly, although it is true that their level of vaccination is much lower than in Spain,” the report states.

Although Spain doesn’t have vaccine passports at the national level, eight out of 17 regions are using a similar system.

The researchers also concluded that vaccine passport schemes “contribute to a false impression that vaccinated people do not get infected,” when in fact “around 40 per cent of those vaccinated are susceptible to infection and transmitting the infection,” the report states.

The only positives of such a scheme are that it “warns people that there is still danger from the pandemic and encourages vaccination uptake among the reticent.”

In other words, although vaccine passports have no discernible impact on their stated goal – reducing the spread of COVID-19 – they do succeed in keeping people fearful and compliant.

And perhaps that’s the primary goal.

“The findings are similar to evidence found by the UK government – that vaccine passports could increase Covid rates in the country,” writes Ken Macon.

“The government in Wales, UK, also found that, despite introducing vaccine passports, they could not find any evidence that they were working.”

Numerous European countries have imposed vaccine passport schemes that segregate the jabbed from the unjabbed.

In some cases, the option to provide a negative test result has been removed, meaning only those who are fully vaccinated (and yet can still spread the virus) are given permission to enter venues.]]> Spanish Investigation Finds Vaccine Passports Have No Impact On Infection Rates

[Image: 031221vaxxpass1.jpg?itok=Vu4PRj1x]

ZH | DEC 04, 2021
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

An investigation by experts in Spain has concluded that vaccine passports have no significant impact on reducing COVID-19 infection rates.

Details of the study, carried out by Spain’s inter-regional Covid committee, were obtained by El Pais and reported on by the Telegraph.

Looking at how the scheme has been implemented in other European countries, the experts found that mandating people show proof of vaccination to enter venues like bars, restaurants and cinemas “is not reducing levels of transmission.”

“In European countries where [the system] is being used, cases are rising significantly, although it is true that their level of vaccination is much lower than in Spain,” the report states.

Although Spain doesn’t have vaccine passports at the national level, eight out of 17 regions are using a similar system.

The researchers also concluded that vaccine passport schemes “contribute to a false impression that vaccinated people do not get infected,” when in fact “around 40 per cent of those vaccinated are susceptible to infection and transmitting the infection,” the report states.

The only positives of such a scheme are that it “warns people that there is still danger from the pandemic and encourages vaccination uptake among the reticent.”

In other words, although vaccine passports have no discernible impact on their stated goal – reducing the spread of COVID-19 – they do succeed in keeping people fearful and compliant.

And perhaps that’s the primary goal.

“The findings are similar to evidence found by the UK government – that vaccine passports could increase Covid rates in the country,” writes Ken Macon.

“The government in Wales, UK, also found that, despite introducing vaccine passports, they could not find any evidence that they were working.”

Numerous European countries have imposed vaccine passport schemes that segregate the jabbed from the unjabbed.

In some cases, the option to provide a negative test result has been removed, meaning only those who are fully vaccinated (and yet can still spread the virus) are given permission to enter venues.]]> <![CDATA[62% Of Swiss Citizens Vote To Keep Covid Vaccine Passports]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2992 Mon, 29 Nov 2021 10:17:09 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2992 62% Of Swiss Citizens Vote To Keep Covid Vaccine Passports ZH | NOV 29, 2021


In a world where millions protest daily against the creeping tyranny of a big government which is abusing the neverending covid tragicomedy to get so much bigger it would make even George Orwell cringe, one country actually had a opportunity to put an end to "vaccine passports" and totally blew it: despite months of protests, Swiss citizens overwhelmingly voted to keep the country’s system of Covid vaccination certificates in place (not surprisingly, the deal was sweetened by the promise of financial assistance for voters).

According to RT, Sunday just over some 62% of voters chose to maintain the country’s coronavirus measures which include a controversial system of Covid vaccination certificates, required since September to enter bars, restaurants, theaters and other public spaces. Majorities in 24 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons backed the law, with only the tiny cantons of Schwyz and Appenzell Innerrhoden rejecting the measures.

[Image: swiss%20referendum.jpg?itok=mZwprWg7]

And since covid has emerged as every politician's best friend, all Swiss political parties with the exception of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party supported the law, which was brought to a vote after anti-lockdown groups gathered nearly 200,000 signatures to challenge it earlier this year. Under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, any initiative can be brought to a vote with 100,000 signatures.

Curiously, while voters in June backed the introduction of the measures by 60%, recent months have seen protests break out in Swiss cities over the introduction of vaccine certificates. Police in October used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds of people who broke through barriers outside the parliament building in Bern. And yet, almost six months later, the support for the controversial measures appears to be even higher than when they were first introduced - one almost wonder if the entire referendum was by mail...

Alas, we will never know the answer.

“The democratic process has been respected but the law is still unconstitutional,” Michelle Cailler of the ‘Friends of the Constitution’ group said after the vote on Sunday. Cailler’s group was one of several who campaigned against the law.

Céline Amaudruz of the Swiss People’s Party, which is currently topping opinion polls in Switzerland, called on the government to take “coherent and measured” action, rather than treating the result as a “blank cheque” to impose whatever coronavirus-related policies it wishes.

The law voted on provides for more than just vaccine passports. It also expands financial support for citizens and businesses affected by the pandemic, a provision that may have won over some reluctant voters.]]> 62% Of Swiss Citizens Vote To Keep Covid Vaccine Passports ZH | NOV 29, 2021


In a world where millions protest daily against the creeping tyranny of a big government which is abusing the neverending covid tragicomedy to get so much bigger it would make even George Orwell cringe, one country actually had a opportunity to put an end to "vaccine passports" and totally blew it: despite months of protests, Swiss citizens overwhelmingly voted to keep the country’s system of Covid vaccination certificates in place (not surprisingly, the deal was sweetened by the promise of financial assistance for voters).

According to RT, Sunday just over some 62% of voters chose to maintain the country’s coronavirus measures which include a controversial system of Covid vaccination certificates, required since September to enter bars, restaurants, theaters and other public spaces. Majorities in 24 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons backed the law, with only the tiny cantons of Schwyz and Appenzell Innerrhoden rejecting the measures.

[Image: swiss%20referendum.jpg?itok=mZwprWg7]

And since covid has emerged as every politician's best friend, all Swiss political parties with the exception of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party supported the law, which was brought to a vote after anti-lockdown groups gathered nearly 200,000 signatures to challenge it earlier this year. Under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, any initiative can be brought to a vote with 100,000 signatures.

Curiously, while voters in June backed the introduction of the measures by 60%, recent months have seen protests break out in Swiss cities over the introduction of vaccine certificates. Police in October used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds of people who broke through barriers outside the parliament building in Bern. And yet, almost six months later, the support for the controversial measures appears to be even higher than when they were first introduced - one almost wonder if the entire referendum was by mail...

Alas, we will never know the answer.

“The democratic process has been respected but the law is still unconstitutional,” Michelle Cailler of the ‘Friends of the Constitution’ group said after the vote on Sunday. Cailler’s group was one of several who campaigned against the law.

Céline Amaudruz of the Swiss People’s Party, which is currently topping opinion polls in Switzerland, called on the government to take “coherent and measured” action, rather than treating the result as a “blank cheque” to impose whatever coronavirus-related policies it wishes.

The law voted on provides for more than just vaccine passports. It also expands financial support for citizens and businesses affected by the pandemic, a provision that may have won over some reluctant voters.]]> <![CDATA[Austria launches vaccine passports]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2897 Mon, 08 Nov 2021 18:08:57 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2897 Austria launches vaccine passports
Starting this week.

[Image: austria-232.jpg]

ReclaimtheNet | November 7, 2021

Austrians who can’t produce a vaccine passport will soon not be able to enter bars and multiple other public places. The vaccine mandate has been imposed because of the rising number of cases, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said while announcing the new restrictions.

The vaccine passport mandate will take effect starting Monday. Those who have not been vaccinated will not be able to enter most public and entertainment venues and events with more than 25 people. The move is expected to have a huge impact, considering 36% of the country’s population has not been vaccinated.

“The evolution is exceptional and the occupancies of intensive-care beds are increasing significantly faster than we had expected,” Schallenberg said.

Though new restrictions take effect on Monday, the government will allow a four-week transition period. During the transition period, those who have received only one dose of the vaccine and those with a recent negative PCR test will be exempted from the restrictions. However, after the four weeks, only those who have been fully vaccinated will be exempted from the restrictions.

Unlike most countries and jurisdictions, Austria will recognize a recent recovery from COVID as an equivalent of being fully vaccinated.

The vaccine mandates will not apply to employees, only customers.

The chancellor argued that: “One is a leisure activity undertaken voluntarily – no one forces me to go to the cinema or the restaurant – the other is my place of work.”

The conservative government also announced stricter measures on the unvaccinated if 600 COVID patients are admitted to intensive care units.

The move adds Austria to the growing number of European countries implementing vaccine passport mandates.]]> Austria launches vaccine passports
Starting this week.

[Image: austria-232.jpg]

ReclaimtheNet | November 7, 2021

Austrians who can’t produce a vaccine passport will soon not be able to enter bars and multiple other public places. The vaccine mandate has been imposed because of the rising number of cases, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said while announcing the new restrictions.

The vaccine passport mandate will take effect starting Monday. Those who have not been vaccinated will not be able to enter most public and entertainment venues and events with more than 25 people. The move is expected to have a huge impact, considering 36% of the country’s population has not been vaccinated.

“The evolution is exceptional and the occupancies of intensive-care beds are increasing significantly faster than we had expected,” Schallenberg said.

Though new restrictions take effect on Monday, the government will allow a four-week transition period. During the transition period, those who have received only one dose of the vaccine and those with a recent negative PCR test will be exempted from the restrictions. However, after the four weeks, only those who have been fully vaccinated will be exempted from the restrictions.

Unlike most countries and jurisdictions, Austria will recognize a recent recovery from COVID as an equivalent of being fully vaccinated.

The vaccine mandates will not apply to employees, only customers.

The chancellor argued that: “One is a leisure activity undertaken voluntarily – no one forces me to go to the cinema or the restaurant – the other is my place of work.”

The conservative government also announced stricter measures on the unvaccinated if 600 COVID patients are admitted to intensive care units.

The move adds Austria to the growing number of European countries implementing vaccine passport mandates.]]> <![CDATA[German Companies Creating Segregated Canteens For Vaccinated And Unvaccinated]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2860 Wed, 03 Nov 2021 10:21:42 +0000 Stone]]> https://staging.thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2860