Mississippi GOP governor pushes back on vaccine passports: ‘I don’t think it’s a good thing to do in America’

“I don’t support vaccine passports. I don’t think it’s necessary and I don’t think it’s a good thing to do in America,” Gov. Tate Reeves told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” when asked about the possible use of the passports in Mississippi.

Though the governor didn’t explain why he opposes the use of vaccine passports in Mississippi, he went on to tout the vaccination rate among seniors in his state, and added that “at some point we have to let Americans make the decision that they think is best for them and their family.”

Vaccine passports are shaping up to be a point of debate in a pandemic that has already seen governors split on topics of mask mandates and state lockdowns. While some officials have been working on standards for such passports, some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have raised privacy concerns as more and more Americans get vaccinated and states continue to roll back restrictions.

CNN’s Kelly Murray and Gregory Lemos contributed to this report.