GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — With COVID-19 cases on the rise in Wisconsin and around the country, many events this summer have had to implement safety precautions, from mask mandates at indoor spaces to requiring proof of vaccination. Music festivals like Summerfest and Lollapalooza are among the latest to require either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
So what other places can ask you for proof of vaccination? In most states, the answer is almost anywhere.
"Any event or venue or place in which people will be congregating against the backdrop of the delta variant is a very clear place in which you will see requests for vaccine information," said James Hodge, a public health law professor at Arizona State University.
The reason is because private-sector entities like companies or businesses are not covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA. This means they have a right to ask to see proof of vaccination and turn away anyone who does not provide it.
"Hospitals, healthcare providers, health insurance companies, and others who work closely with them, that's who the rule applies to," Hodge said. "They cannot invade your privacy for the sake of providing health services. But to be sure, everyone else like employers, the general public, or venue operators, they're not covered by the HIPPA privacy rule."
It's a controversial topic. Some states like Arizona and Texas have prohibited businesses from asking about vaccination status, while others like California and New York are moving towards utilizing "vaccine passports".
"Some jurisdictions are now developing and using systematic sort of apps for the purposes of proving vaccination," Hodge said. "Generally that app might just reveal 'I'm vaccinated'."
Music festivals and other events with large crowds are especially at risk of becoming super-spreader events, which is why Hodge says they're likely to ask for proof of vaccination even if that might mean losing some business.
"These enterprises do not want to absorb even the risk of liability that their event led to a mass spread or mass infection of persons with COVID that will unfortunately with the delta variant lead to some deaths," Hodge said.
In addition, as cases continue to rise, he expects more venues and businesses will begin asking for proof of vaccination out of concern for their employees.
"These employers also have an obligation to their employees to provide a safe working environment," Hodge said. "The patrons themselves produce a dangerous environment because they can be asymptomatic with the delta variant and spreading it very, very easily."
