During the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 13, Dr. Clayton Chau, Director of the Orange County Health Agency, addressed items that he called “controversial issues” regarding the vaccination of children under 16, and the concept of digital vaccination passports in Orange County. 

HCA also issued a statement regarding the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the Centers for Disease Control recommended a pause on production, “out of an abundance of caution,” after half a dozen individuals reacted with a “rare and severe blood clot type.” 

In Orange County, more than 27,000 doses of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine had been administered between March 8 and April 12.  

Chau said the concept of “vaccination passports” found in the Othena app are only meant for record keeping purposes. However, the topic of “vaccination passports” generated more than 200 in-person speaker requests from the public during the Board of Supervisors meeting.  

“As a health entity, we are required by law to give people proof that we provide a service to them. The health care service, in this case, is the vaccination,” Chau explained to the Board of Supervisors.  

Chau added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control have issued statements that the white immunization cards are being forged, emphasizing that the method of record-keeping is unsafe.

Chau referenced more public confusion regarding “vaccination passports” after individuals reported seeing a QR code within the Othena app. 

“You probably have heard that the CDC and FBI have issued statements that the white CDC immunization record cards have been forged and there’s a lot of people who are selling it, and so they recommend that they not be used as proof of vaccination at this point,” Chau added. “We’re working on issuing a digital vaccination administration record, but they have to request it.”

Yet, regardless of Chau’s explanation behind the newly adopted digital vaccination records, hundreds of people spoke out against the technology during the meeting, some asking for Chau’s resignation.

In addition to clarifying that the digital vaccine records were simply for record keeping, Chau added that the county has no plans for businesses to request proof of vaccine in order to receive or provide services.

County Supervisor Andrew Do backed Chau’s statements, further emphasizing that the COVID-19 vaccine is only authorized under emergency use, which makes the vaccine optional.

Do added that under the emergency use, neither the government nor the Orange County Board of Supervisors would enforce a mandatory vaccination rule. Therefore, businesses would never be required to see proof in order to provide service.    

“The optional aspect is right up front — it can never be mandatory, or compulsory by nature of that authorization. So if it’s optional, and it’s not required, there’s no way that legitimately any kind of exclusionary use of such a vaccine can be used,” Do said. “Admittedly, the term ‘passport’ was probably in-artful, it was a quick glance at the issue — we thought that was a convenient way to describe it — but, I don’t think any of us anticipated that the term would come with the exclusionary function.”  

Chau said there are situations where businesses can ask for proof of vaccine or negative tests, only to increase capacity at sporting and music venues. 

“For outdoor live events with assigned seats and control mixing, in Tier 3 [Orange Tier], maximum 33% includes suites with 25% occupancy, per suite,” Chau explained. “Maximum 67% if all guests are tested or show proof of full vaccination.” 

On April 14, the Orange County Health Agency reported 89 new COVID-19 cases with 13 COVID-19 related deaths. As of Monday April 13, the HCA reported an accumulative total of 252,538 COVID-19 cases, with 4,849 COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began last March.

In terms of vaccinations, as of Monday, April 4, the Orange County Health Agency had fully vaccinated 598,838 individuals. Statewide, the California Department of Health reports more than 7.4 million people are now fully vaccinated in California.

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