Connecticut rolled out a voluntary vaccine passport program this week. The digital record of your COVID vaccines is now available online for download and some Republican lawmakers have raised privacy concerns.
“When we get programs that are rolled out with very vague, unspecific information, when documents are not produced when people ask for them, that feeds the narrative and it leaves people to speculate the good and the bad,” House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora said.
Candelora said the administration did not provide them with a copy of the contract. The copy of the contract with Envision Technology Partners was made available Friday morning.
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“If you shine light on these policies and bring transparency back to government, it would eliminate the conspiracy theories and that is not happening,” Candelora said.
Candelora speculated that a business like a grocery store or a pharmacy would participate in the program and deny essential services to unvaccinated individuals.
“The governor’s providing only an option for people to carry their digital health record with them,” Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said.
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Reiss said the program is voluntary for businesses and individuals.
“Gov. Lamont has been unbelievably clear, there is no plan for a new set of mandates. Period. Stop,” Reiss said.
Talking to reporters Thursday, Lamont said there’s no way the state would allow personal health information to be sold.
“No way. HIPPA, privacy not going to happen,” Lamont said.
The privacy policy on the Envision Technology Partners' website says they may share information with third parties, but the state contract forbids it.
“I was put in a position to react to the program, so the bigger problem is the administration continues to implement programs without any input from legislators,” Candelora said.
Lamont said he’s open to public hearings, but isn’t going to slow down the rollout of the program.
“I’m not requiring anything, I'm not mandating anything, I'm giving stores and restaurants and businesses one more tool they need to make their employees and customers feel safe,” Lamont said.
