Yes, Businesses Can Ask About Your COVID-19 Vaccination Status

Well, it seems people on social media have found something new to argue about.

There's been a ton of debate on whether or not a business has the right to ask to see your vaccination card. People have been going round and round about this ever since Michigan updated the mask mandate which allows vaccinated people to be inside without a mask. Once that announcement was made, some businesses said they would ask customers to show their proof of vaccination.

Get our free mobile app

People keep saying that businesses can't ask for proof of vaccination because HIPAA prevents them from sharing their medical information, including their vaccination status. According to an article from Fox 2 Detroit, this is not protected by HIPAA

Kayte Spector-Bagdady, Chief of the Research Ethics Service in the University of Michigan's Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine:

HIPAA only governs certain kinds of entities – your clinician, hospital, or others in the health care sphere. It does not apply to the average person or to a business outside health care. It doesn’t give someone personal protection against ever having to disclose their health information.

The quick and simple answer

Yes, businesses have the right to ask about vaccinations, they're not violating the law by doing so.

July 1st can't get here soon enough

Starting on July 1st, all COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted, including the mask mandate. That means we will no longer have to have these dumb and pointless conversations.