U.S. 'Covid Coordinator' Renews Push For Vaccine Passports And Mandates

Biden’s New COVID Coordinator Wants Vaccine Passports, Claims ‘We Aren’t Anywhere Near the End of This Pandemic’

 Natalie Winters

 

President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 Coordinator – Dr. Ashish Jha – has vigorously advocated for “vaccine passports” and other hardline measures including mandated vaccines for air travel, despite also defending left-wing protests as “essential”.

Dr. Jha, who will be replacing Jeff Zients and his deputy Natalie Quillian next month, is the current Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health who has also praised Anthony Fauci as his personal “role model.”

A frequent guest on mainstream media programming, Dr. Jha has routinely used his platform to demand the introduction of vaccine mandates and vaccine passports in America, while insisting “we are not anywhere near the end of this pandemic” in a February 2022 interview.

In an April 28th, 2021 op-ed for The Economist, Dr. Jha outlined his “case for vaccine certificates to beat COVID-19.”

“Vaccine certificates are needed so everyone’s full participation in society can be restored,” he summarized while insisting criticism that the policy represents an “infringement on personal freedom” as “nonsense.”

“As countries administer covid-19 vaccines, having a vaccine certificate—a simple, reliable and secure way to determine who is inoculated—will be critical to making work, school, restaurants, houses of worship and other places safe for everyone,” he reiterates before pointing to programs in New York, Hawaii, and Israel as models to emulate:

“The state of New York has rolled out a smartphone app that verifies a person’s vaccination status or recent negative test result, allowing admission to public events like baseball games. Hawaii plans to pilot a programme exempting those who can show proof of vaccination from mandatory quarantine requirements. Israel, which has already rolled out a “green pass” system, plans to open the programme to international travelers who can show proof of vaccination.”

Dr. Jha has also spoken at events – including “A National Strategy For Digital Health” – sponsored by Mitre Corp, which is spearheading efforts to normalize digital health passports for Americans seeking to travel, enter businesses, or attend school.

Similarly, Dr. Jha called for a “vaccine mandate for air travel” in a Twitterthread from October 3rd, 2021.

“Its time for vaccine mandate for air travel Lack of one is becoming an issue[.] So here’s my story from last night that confirmed why we need it[.] Basically, we can’t expect mitigation measures to be enforced well enough to prevent transmission on airplanes forever,” he asserted before sharing a story about sitting next to a woman “whose mask barely covered her mouth” on a plane.

Dr. Jha has also participated in one-on-one interviews with Anthony Fauci, where he praised the disgraced National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director as a “role model”:

During the interview, he also revealed when asked about COVID-19 vaccines he will “always essentially try to channel my inner Tony Fauci, as I think all public health people do, and try to think what would Tony say about this” when answering the questions.

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