Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Chung Pei-ling (鍾佩玲) on Tuesday clashed over Ko’s proposal to introduce a municipal vaccine and health passport system, with the mayor saying that he would, if necessary, seek to implement the policy without approval from the central government.
The exchange, which took place in a Taipei City Council session, came after Ko has over the past few months urged the introduction of a municipal vaccine passport, despite the idea being opposed by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Chuang said that business owners and residents in her constituency have expressed concerns over how the system would work.
A city government policy meeting last week did not produce guidelines for or a preview of the policy, she added.
The CECC has on multiple occasions emphasized that vaccine passports are intended for crossing international borders and that domestically imposed restrictions based on such a system might contravene personal liberties and the right to privacy, she said.
Ko should refrain from seeking to obtain Taipei residents’ data from the CECC, based on which the municipal passport system could be set up, she said.
Ko said that the Taipei City Government is seeking to work with the central government on the issue, as it it does not intend to steal the CECC’s spotlight.
Taipei would be ready to roll out several types of vaccine passports and mobile apps to protect its residents’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as it gets approved by the CECC, Ko said, reiterating that the passports would enable business owners’ to check patrons’ vaccination status.
“However, we do not need the central government’s permission to do any of this; the only thing we need is the permission of end users,” to obtain their data from the National Health Insurance Administration database through local hospitals, he said.
The city government does not expect any technical problems if it unilaterally introduces vaccine passports in the jurisdiction, Ko said.
Until the municipal passport system is in place, community centers would not be allowed to host meals for elderly people without checking their vaccination status, Ko said.
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