Public health officials have expressed shock that Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich appeared unaware that federal and state agencies have access to records about who has received COVID-19 vaccinations.
On Tuesday, Brnovich wrote a letter to President Joe Biden after the White House mentioned forthcoming plans for “targeted community-by-community, door-to-door outreach” to provide unvaccinated Americans with information about the COVID-19 vaccination. The attorney general continued his criticism Thursday during an interview with a national media outlet, saying the “biggest health crisis” facing America is from there being “no cure for stupid.”
In his letter to the president, Brnovich called the COVID-19 vaccines “a great breakthrough,” but said he was “greatly alarmed” that federal officials “might be in possession of medical records revealing the contact information for Americans who have not been vaccinated.”
The attorney general added that if true, “this is a severe breach of privacy, and I will not tolerate such intrusions within Arizona.”
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is a federal agency, and Arizona’s own Department of Health Services have various ways to access someone’s vaccination records. So too the FDA, according to federal public health officials.
One easy way is a CDC sponsored app called v-safe, which has been heavily promoted by ADHS Director Cara Christ’s staff.
In an article published in April, Arizona Daily Independent highlighted a script ADHS shared with medical providers to encourage vaccinated persons to register for the app which even tracks a person’s medical reaction to the vaccine. ADHS has also promoted a companion app called the COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry.
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Knowing who has gotten the shot makes it very easy for federal and state public health officials to figure out who has not been vaccinated.