'Like a bar code': Andrew Yang calls for way to show proof of someone's vaccination

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is calling for a system people can use to provide proof that they have been vaccinated for COVID-19, suggesting something "like a bar code they can download to their phone" would make it easier to safely congregate.

What are the details?

Yang, whose campaign for the White House was based on a platform calling for universal basic income, tweeted Friday, "Is there a way for someone to easily show that they have been vaccinated - like a bar code they can download to their phone? There ought to be."

He argued, "Tough to have mass gatherings like concerts or ballgames without either mass adoption of the vaccine or a means of signaling."

The businessman went on to say, "I've been tested at a photo shoot or interview and gotten a bracelet showing I was negative. Then we could interact more freely."

Yang was blasted for the suggestion on Twitter, with many likening his idea to the way Jewish people were labeled in Nazi Germany.

Conservative podcaster Stephen Miller replied, "Might want to rethink this one before running for mayor of the city with the largest concentration of Jewish population in the country," referring to reports that Yang may run for mayor of New York City.

"This is Nazi talk Andrew," wrote director Robby Starbuck, while someone else added sarcastically, "How about yellow star attached to our shirts?"

Not everyone found that analogy fair. One person wrote, "As a Jew I find it pretty insulting that people are comparing a QR code that shows whether you can transmit a deadly disease to the Nazis marking my ancestors for slaughter, but whatever. That's politics I guess."

Some folks also referenced the mark of the beast from the Book of Revelation, with one tweeting, "Got to be some sort of..... mark." Turning Point USA contributor Graham Allen drew a correlation to communist China, writing, "Let me guess social credit comes next?"

Others agreed with Yang, with one person noting that everyone who is inoculated for COVID-19 will receive a vaccination card from the CDC, and suggested people "take a pic of it to show getting into events."

Someone else stated that they had been working on a "digital health passport" for nearly a year, and another follower wrote, "What! You mean they are not giving people a card? The UK has a card. I assumed we would do likewise."

Anything else?

Yang is not the first to call for some type of verification system for vaccinated individuals.

WISN-TV reported earlier this week that according to Anit Mukherjee with the Center of Global Development, "such identification requirements are almost a certainty for a return to normal."

"There would be gatekeepers, as I call them, at different places, be it at your workplace or your office when you go in, or a stadium to watch the Bucks play," Mukherjee told the outlet. "They would require some form of assurance that you have been vaccinated."

He added, "We need to think of how we approach this in a very careful manner, but also understanding that this is the future. There will be other pandemics and we need to be prepared."