Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich says he supports using a coronavirus vaccine passport program to stem case surges.
Dr. Travis Gayles, Montgomery’s health officer, told Elrich and other county leaders Wednesday that the jurisdiction has officially become an area of “high transmission” for COVID-19, WTOP reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines “high transmission” as 100 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days.
“We’re at the low range of the high rate, but there’s little consolation in that,” Elrich said during an online briefing Wednesday, WTOP reported. “If more people were vaccinated, this would not happen.”
Elrich said a passport program wouldn’t be as restrictive as it sounds and “actually would encourage people to do more things” by making it “more difficult for the unvaccinated to come in contact with people who are vaccinated.”
The county council, which also acts as Montgomery’s board of health, would have to approve such a program, WTOP reported.