Your questions, answered“After I get vaccinated, will I receive a certificate that proves I've been vaccinated? I'm thinking that some services or venues (e.g. airlines) may need to be certain that unvaccinated people continue to wear masks, while vaccinated people may be exempt from that requirement. Or service providers that enter your home may want to provide that certification for the homeowner's inspection.” — Hal in Texas You will in the United States, sort of. CNN reported last week that the Department of Defense has prepared millions of coronavirus vaccination record cards, which will be given to anyone who gets a shot. “Certificate” may be too grand a word; in photos they look like simple paper cards that note when and where you got your jab. The larger question is whether people will be required to submit proof of vaccination. It's very possible, but still too early to say. The Supreme Court granted state and local governments the right to compel smallpox vaccinations in the 1900s, National Geographic reported. Today, vaccine mandates apply mainly to schoolchildren and members of the military. It's possible that such mandates could be expanded once coronavirus vaccines become available — perhaps as a requirement to obtain a passport or driver's license. But given many Americans’ hostility to mask and social distancing orders, experts who spoke to the magazine doubted that authorities would try to compel hundreds of millions of people to get their shots. “We’re not going to get to the point where the vaccine police break down your door to vaccinate you,” Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University’s School of Medicine, told National Geographic. In fact, both National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony S. Fauci and President-elect Joe Biden have already ruled out a public vaccine mandate, according to USA Today. It seems more likely that people may be required to show proof of vaccination to go to certain stores, deal with certain businesses, travel to certain places — and perhaps even to work. This would amount to a so-called voluntary mandate: No one would be forced to get a vaccine, but life could become very difficult for those who didn't. The Australian airline Qantas announced last month that all international fliers would be asked for proof of immunization once vaccines are widely available. The company's chief executive predicted that other airlines would follow suit. Around the same time, Ticketmaster denied reports that it was planning to require vaccines for concertgoers, but acknowledged the possibility that event organizers or local authorities might impose them in some places. Finally, The Post wrote last week that many companies are waiting for federal guidance as they consider whether to require their employees to get coronavirus shots. Two big ones, Tyson Foods and Target, didn't rule out the possibility when asked — though they said it was too early to say. But even individual workplace mandates would raise some thorny legal questions, Post reporter Jena McGregor wrote. For one thing, the Food and Drug Administration is likely to approve the first coronavirus vaccines under an emergency authorization, and it's unclear whether the courts would uphold any requirements that employees take them. So yes, you'll likely get some sort of vaccination proof to put in your wallet. But whether you'll need to take it out after that remains an open question. | 
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