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Capitol Beat
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order Tuesday prohibiting state agencies, state service providers, and state properties from requiring COVID-19 vaccine passports.
The order also forbids vaccine passports as a condition for entering Georgia and prohibits state agencies from treating unvaccinated employees differently from those who have received vaccinations.
"While I continue to urge all Georgians to get vaccinated so we continue our momentum in putting the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview, vaccination is a personal decision between each citizen and a medical professional - not state government,” Kemp said in a prepared statement.
“This order also clearly states that data held by the Georgia Department of Public Health and their immunization system will not be used by any public or private entity for a vaccine passport program."
Other Republican-led states have taken similar steps to ban state agencies from requiring vaccine passports, while some have gone further by banning private businesses from requiring such documentation.
But some countries have moved to require travelers to show proof they’ve been vaccinated against the virus or proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test as a condition for entry.
In California, venues can allow more people to enter if they prove they have received vaccinations.
(Capitol Beat is a nonprofit news service operated by the Georgia Press Educational Foundation that provides coverage of state government through Georgia Press Association members, such as the White County News.)