USA Today: Florida vaccine passport ban at odds with CDC vaccine mandate

jmdrake

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Posted for [MENTION=58229]TheCount[/MENTION]. That said, as [MENTION=65707]Firestarter[/MENTION] pointed out, there is hidden language in the Florida bill that lets the Florida equivalent of Dr. Fauci institute forced vaccinations and quarantines.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...-cdc-florida-vaccine-passport-ban/7464685002/

Celebrity Cruises is the first cruise line to receive approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to sail with paying passengers. But there's a complication: Florida law.

The CDC approval hinges on a vaccine requirement. Celebrity, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group, will require 100% of crew members and 95% of passengers who will be on board the Celebrity Edge to be fully vaccinated when the ship sets sail on a seven-night cruise June 26 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and for sailings thereafter.

But that requirement is at odds with a Florida state law banning "vaccine passports," which goes into effect on July 1, and is also outlined in an executive order from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"Vaccine passport" is a term referring to proof of vaccination. While there's no official national or international document serving as such a passport, various types of COVID-19 vaccine certification are being developed in some parts of the world, such as Europe.
The opposite of a smooth sailing start

Between the CDC's cruise vaccine rules, Florida's vaccine passport ban and cruise line plans, an extremely murky situation is clouding the return to cruising from Florida ports.

The question remains whether ships will be able to sail from Florida with the state's "vaccine passport" ban in place – or what the ramifications will be should they inquire about passengers' vaccination status, which is required by the CDC but banned by the state.

"Requiring customers to show proof of immunization violates the spirit of the governor’s Emergency Order 21-81, which prohibits vaccine passports and protects the fundamental rights of Floridians – including the right to medical privacy," Christina Pushaw, DeSantis' press secretary, told USA TODAY Thursday.

For cruise lines offering cruises on ships with paying passengers, the CDC is requiring that 95% of crew and 95% of passengers be fully vaccinated to board.

Simulated cruises, which will be filled with volunteer nonpaying passengers, do not have the same mandate. But there is some complexity, as well. Volunteer passengers are still required to share information about their vaccination status on these test cruises.

And while passengers participating in test cruises aren't required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, they must have written documentation from a health care provider or must self certify that they aren't at a heightened risk for COVID-19 if they aren't, according to the CDC. And all must agree to be evaluated for COVID-19 symptoms before embarking and after disembarking, along with an agreement to be tested for COVID-19 three to five days following the cruise.


Royal Caribbean International, a sibling line to Celebrity Cruises, has received CDC approval for sucha test cruise.
 

If you were to actually read my posts, you'd know that at the 95% vaccination threshold, cruise lines don't need test cruises at all and so the bolded portion of your post is irrelevant. They wanted to reach 95% to avoid test cruises, which would have had to be a) all volunteer, and b) free to the passengers.

Simulated cruises, which will be filled with volunteer nonpaying passengers, do not have the same mandate
Right there is where it says that test cruises do not have a 95% vaccination mandate.


That said, as @Firestarter pointed out, there is hidden language in the Florida bill that lets the Florida equivalent of Dr. Fauci institute forced vaccinations and quarantines.

Yes, because the Trump/DeSantis flavor of Republican is interested in seizing, maintaining, and expanding government power, not reducing it.
 
If you were to actually read my posts, you'd know that at the 95% vaccination threshold, cruise lines don't need test cruises at all and so the bolded portion of your post is irrelevant. They wanted to reach 95% to avoid test cruises, which would have had to be a) all volunteer, and b) free to the passengers.


Right there is where it says that test cruises do not have a 95% vaccination mandate.

LOL. It says test cruises do not have the SAME mandate WHICH MEANS THE OTHER CRUISES DO HAVE THAT MANDATE!

Yes, because the Trump/DeSantis flavor of Republican is interested in seizing, maintaining, and expanding government power, not reducing it.

But occasionally they do something good. Like banning cruises from inquiring about vaccine status. This was a case of DeSantis stepping on something the CDC under Trump did. Ban the CDC.
 
LOL. It says test cruises do not have the SAME mandate WHICH MEANS THE OTHER CRUISES DO HAVE THAT MANDATE!
What is your point? I honestly don't understand. I'm the one who said that there is a 95% mandate, and you're the one who said that there wasn't.


But occasionally they do something good. Like banning cruises from inquiring about vaccine status.

How is that good?


This was a case of DeSantis stepping on something the CDC under Trump did. Ban the CDC.

They could have nullified the CDC's mandate. They chose not to. Instead they did something else, virtue signalling to their tribe.
 
What is your point? I honestly don't understand. I'm the one who said that there is a 95% mandate, and you're the one who said that there wasn't.

:rolleyes: Wrong. I said there was a mandate. Quote one place I said there wasn't a mandate. You said the Florida law banning cruise ships asking about vaccine status had nothing to do with the mandate. You were wrong.

They could have nullified the CDC's mandate. They chose not to. Instead they did something else, virtue signalling to their tribe.

Actually...they did nullify the CDC's mandate. That's the point of the USA Today article. Reading comprehension is fundamental.
 
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You said the Florida law banning cruise ships asking about vaccine status had nothing to do with the mandate. You were wrong.

It doesn't! All it did was make it difficult to meet that mandate.

The cruise lines were forbidden from requiring proof of vaccination, so instead they had to discourage nonvaccinated passengers and passengers who didn't want to provide proof by charging them more money, making them quarantine, wear masks, etc.

Y'know, like I said to you before

That's entirely separate from the 95% vaccinated requirement placed on the cruise lines, which was their barrier to operation and which was in no way lifted or nullified by Florida's law.

As I said, the Florida law doesn't make the federal mandate go away. It doesn't nullify it or even speak to it.

Right now, the cruises are relying on voluntary reporting combined with severe penalties for those who do not voluntarily report.
 
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