COVID: US rules out federal vaccine passports

The White House has ruled out the introduction of mandatory federal COVID-19 vaccination passports for Americans saying citizens’ privacy and rights should be protected.

Moves to introduce such passports have been spreading around the world as a way to enable safe circulation of people while fighting the pandemic.

But critics say such documents could be discriminatory.

The US said it would not support a system that requires Americans to carry a credential.

The country has reported more than 550,000 COVID-related deaths and nearly 31 million cases, the highest number in the world.