White House won't push 'vaccine passports'

The White House is standing behind its pledge not to institute a federal vaccine passport, despite rising discussion on the subject following the release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance on unvaccinated people ditching their masks.

Last week, the center said that fully vaccinated people could stop wearing masks in public. Numerous experts have suggested businesses will need some type of standardized vaccine passport in order to interact with maskless customers safely.

"It has not changed our view that the federal government will not be playing that role," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in response to a question on the subject from the Washington Examiner at Monday's briefing. "The private sector may, and it may prompt the private sector moving forward on actions, which is where we think it's appropriately situated."

Psaki later rejected the idea that the guidance operates on an "honor" system.