From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
Alabama
Montgomery: State lawmakers have inched closer to approving a ban on so-called vaccine passports that would require proof of COVID-19 vaccination to access services from a business or state agency. The House Health Committee voted Wednesday to send the bill to House of Representatives for a vote. It has already cleared the Senate. The bill contains a number of exceptions. Surgeons, dentists, medical institutions, hospitals and other health care providers are exempted. Universities could still require students to receive a vaccine; however, there would be exceptions for vaccines approved for “emergency use” by the FDA, as is the case with all three COVID-19 vaccines given in the United States thus far. The idea of vaccine passports is to have a document that shows a person has been inoculated against COVID-19. Federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory, but some Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination. The Senate approved the bill earlier this month by a 30-0 vote.