Barbara Robinson is vaccinated but her husband, Keith, is not. The Mobile couple is hoping to go cruising again, but confusion about how that may roll out abounds.
Will the Robinsons be required to show a proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status before getting on board? And if Keith remains unvaccinated, will he be told to go home?
“I feel that my health is private, and no company can inquire about my health to determine my ability to work or vacation,” said Keith Robinson, 54. “I feel that the CDC is overstepping in concern to the cruise industry.”
Alabama legislation banning so-called “vaccine passports” likely won’t help Robinson or anyone cruising out of Mobile.
The bill’s sponsor, state Senator Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, told AL.com this week that he was informed that SB267 does not pre-empt the federal regulations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal admiralty law also requires cruise ship owners and operators to exercise reasonable care to its passengers, which remains a focal point on the cruising industry following coronavirus outbreaks aboard ships during the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.
‘Wait and see’
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has yet to sign the legislation that was approved by the Alabama Legislature on Monday.
But in next-door Florida, a similar new law signed by Republican Ron DeSantis is stirring a dispute over federalism’s reach and whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should relent to the…
