Will Baker Follow Through On 'Vax ID' System? 'It's A Real Possibility' Says GBH State House Reporter

Beacon Hill is gearing up for a busy fall, but despite new topics to discuss, the agenda is still dominated by COVID-19. Mike Deehan, GBH News State House reporter, joined Aaron Schachter on Morning Edition to give an update on what to expect over the next few months on Beacon Hill. This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Aaron Schachter: It's been nearly two weeks since President Joe Biden announced requirements for large employers to have their employees vaccinated against COVID-19. What has been the reaction at the State House?

Mike Deehan: Well, Baker hasn't said too much, and really Democrats haven't really weighed in either. And that's partially because, according to Baker at least, there are very few details that have come with Biden's plan. We asked him last week and Baker said he was waiting for details, [we] asked him again this week, and he said that he's still waiting for details and there isn't much to scrutinize. Here's what Baker had to say just yesterday:

Deehan: So, you can see that he's not terribly enthusiastic with Biden's plan, whatever the details might be. But, it applies to employers in states like Massachusetts. Baker definitely wants to know which major employers are going to have to comply with this Biden plan if it is real, if it does go into effect.

Schachter: There's another vaccine mandate in the works as well. That's for members and staff of the House of Representatives. When does Speaker Ron Mariano expect to have members back on Beacon Hill?

Deehan: According to this new House plan, any state reps or House staff need to be fully vaccinated and prove they're fully vaccinated by November 1st if they want to return to work back in person. If they don't want to show that vaccination, they'll still have to work remotely. And after November 1st — those are the two final weeks of session before the end-of-the-year break. It's usually very hectic for lawmakers. So, they would want to be in the building. It would be kind of be a strange thing to not have them there in person if they have the option.

Mariano — he can't really force any elected representatives under him to get vaccinated. The Speaker's only so powerful. He was frustrated last week when he was talking about some members not wanting to get vaccinated:

Deehan: You can hear right there that he almost is expecting some vaccine-resisting Reps to appear remotely, potentially after this November 1st deadline. And then we'll kind of know who's on what side of this.

Schachter: There are also calls, Mike, to keep some schools remote while children under 12 are not able to get vaccinated. What is it that parents are asking for?

Deehan: Some parents organized a call [and] meeting, and they're going to apply to the state committee today to allow some form of remote learning to be established so that children who don't want to be in class, or parents who don't feel safe sending their kids to class, still have some way to tune into the classroom. We heard from a number of parents who have taken their kids out in order to homeschool them this year. So they're asking for some kind of third option.

Baker, though — he's adamant that in-person learning is the best. He does not want to go back to remote learning and isn't really entertaining any ideas about a new kind of hybrid model.

Schachter: Are we going to see any kind of ‘Vax ID’ card in Massachusetts?

Deehan: It's a real possibility. This is something that came up just last week. Baker said that officials from his administration are in talks with other states and jurisdictions that have done this kind of thing. Think of the New York Excelsior Pass. It's a state-run thing that says, “yes, you've been vaccinated” or “yes, you got a negative test recently.” Baker didn't make any promises. But, you know, as the governor, he's had a history of mentioning things as a possibility really shortly before rolling them out as real plans. So, we'll see where that develops.