ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Once opposed to the idea, Mayor Tishaura Jones is now saying vaccine passports are an "opportunity we're looking into."
Jones told reporters in mid-May that she was against the idea of people having to show proof of vaccination to get into buildings or events.
"We don't want this to turn into sort of a 'show us your papers moment," Jones said in May. "We'll just have to trust what people tell us."
But now, the mayor is signaling her openness to vaccine passports.
"I recently had to show my vaccine card to someone to get access to a building," Jones said. "So, I realize that there's been a little bit more hesitancy than people initially thought that there would be with the vaccine, and so I think the country is at a moment when they have to push a little harder."
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The mayor was asked if she's considering a health order to implement vaccine passports in St. Louis.
"I can't speak about that right now, but we are looking at all of our options to encourage people to get vaccinated. We need to get our vaccination rates up," Jones said.
So far, New York, San Francisco and this week New Orleans have implemented vaccine health passes to get into public venues.
Vaccine health passes in Europe have been credited with getting more people to sign up for vaccines, but have also sparked massive demonstrations over medical privacy and personal liberty in Italy, the UK and France.
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Thousands of French protestors have filled the streets over the past five weekends to protest vaccine health passes there. A vaccine health pass is now required to go up in the Eiffel Tower.
Last week, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt called vaccine passports "dystopian," and warned that he would take legal action to oppose vaccine passports in the state.
"Vaccine passports we would push back against aggressively and file suit, if those came anywhere," Schmitt said.
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