CDC plans to collect data on vaccine recipients, leading to privacy concerns
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Some states are objecting to a requirement that they share information on vaccine recipients with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC is requiring states to sign agreements that they will share information that includes the names, birth dates, ethnicities and addresses of people who get vaccinated for COVID-19, report the New York Times and Forbes. The government is not asking for Social Security numbers.
Most states have already signed the agreements, according to the New York Times.
Among those pushing back is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said the data-sharing requirement could discourage people who are in the country illegally from getting a vaccine.
In Minnesota, officials will only submit “de-identified doses-administered data” without listing names, race, ethnicity or address.
Federal officials say they won’t share the information with other agencies, according to the New York Times. They want to collect the information to make sure that people who travel to other states receive their second vaccine doses, to track adverse reactions, and to gauge how well the vaccine works in different populations.
The data collection doesn’t violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act because the law allows collection of health information to prevent or control disease, according to the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
