Eighty House Republicans Vote With Democrats to Pass Bill Funding Federal Vaccine Database

A Department of Health and Human Services employee holds a COVID-19 vaccine record card in Washington on Nov. 13, 2020. EJ Hersom/DoD

Eighty House Republicans voted with the Democrats to Tuesday to pass the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act, which if passed by the Senate and made into law, would fund a federal vaccination database.

The bill, also known as H.R. 550, will grant the federal government the authority to appropriate $400 million in taxpayer dollars to fund “immunization system data modernization and expansion.”

The immunization system is defined as “a confidential, population-based, computerized database that records immunization doses administered by any health care provider to persons within the geographic area covered by that database,” the bill’s text states.

It also states that the bill will expand the capabilities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Public Health Department in sharing health data with the federal government.

Rep. Ann Kuster (D-N.H), the main sponsor of the bill, says that H.R. 550 will enable public and private health care providers to do the same as well.

The system can also be used to “remind patients when they are due for a recommended vaccine,” and identify areas with low vaccination rates to “ensure equitable distribution of vaccines,” she said in a statement on Nov. 30.

Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), one of the 130 Republicans who voted against the bill, told Breitbart Wednesday that the legislation would enable the federal government to track and target unvaccinated Americans who will be “forced to comply” with a “global vaccination” vision.

“These systems are designed to allow for the sharing of crucial information and maintenance of records. Do we really trust the government to protect our medical records?” Miller said.

Rep. Byron Donalds, (R-Fla.), who also voted “no,” cited fiscal concerns, while at the same time, saying that the legislation only serves to expand the power of the federal government.

“This legislation would unnecessarily appropriate millions of taxpayer funds intended to expand bureaucracy in Washington. A database solely created to record and collect confidential vaccination information of Americans explicitly encroaches upon individuals’ fundamental right to medical privacy,” Donalds said.