05/20/2021

Fact Check: Businesses Can Legally Ask if Patrons Have Been Vaccinated

HIPAA does not apply

As mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines relax for fully vaccinated individuals, businesses are navigating how to implement new policies in their stores. Many businesses are ending mask requirements only for fully vaccinated customers.

Vaccine opponents, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., are using the occasion to resurrect the false claim that the HIPAA federal privacy law protects individuals from being asked about their vaccination status.

On May 18 several GOP members refused to wear masks on the House floor in defiance of House rules on mask-wearing, including Greene. When asked if she was vaccinated, Greene told reporters that asking about her vaccine status was a HIPAA violation. 

Please select this link to read the complete article from USA Today.