White House leaves vaccine "passports" to private sector

As more and more countries like Japan, China and Denmark plan to introduce vaccine "passports" for their citizens, Americans are beginning to wonder if they, too, will have to show some sort of proof of vaccination or similar ID to travel, attend events, work or generally participate in society.

There aren't many answers to this in the U.S., although the U.S. has vaccinated more people than any nation in the world. But the Biden administration is making one thing clear — the federal government won't be the one issuing a vaccine credential, or storing citizens' vaccination information in a database.  "This is going to hit all parts of society, and so naturally, the government is involved," Andy Slavitt, acting director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said during a White House COVID-19 briefing Monday. "But unlike other parts of the world, the government here is not viewing its role as the place to create a passport, nor a place to hold the data of — of citizens. We view this as something that the private sector is doing and will do. What's important to us, and we're leading an interagency process right now to go through these details, are that some important criteria be met with these credentials."