Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra argued that the federal government is entitled to know who has been vaccinated against COVID-19, responding to concerns over a recently announced White House plan to send teams door-to-door.
“Perhaps we should point out that the federal government has had to spend trillions of dollars to try to keep Americans alive during this pandemic, so it is absolutely the government’s business. It is taxpayers’ business if we have to continue to spend money to try to keep people from contracting COVID and helping reopen the economy,” Becerra told CNN on Thursday.
Becerra claimed that “knocking on a door has never been against the law” and “you don’t have to answer, but we hope you do.” He added, “Because if you haven’t been vaccinated, we can help dispel some of those rumors you’ve heard and hopefully get you vaccinated.”
In a later tweet, Becerra said his comments to CNN were taken “wildly out of context.”
“To be clear: government has no database tracking who is vaccinated,” he tweeted. “We’re encouraging people to step up to protect themselves, others by getting vaccinated. It’s the best way to save lives and end this pandemic.”
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden and White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced a plan to send teams door-to-door to provide information about vaccines in areas with relatively low vaccination rates.
Read full story here: Health Secretary Becerra: ‘Absolutely the Government’s Business’ to Know Who Gets Vaccinated