This article was originally published by Jordan Schachtel at The American Institute for Economic Research. 

If you want to participate in Oregon society without being forced to wear a mask, you better have your paperwork in order.

The state is now requiring individuals to display “proof of vaccination” if they’d like to take their masks off indoors, Oregon’s Health Authority has announced.

Fully vaccinated people in Oregon will have to show proof of their vaccination status in order to enter businesses and other facilities without a mask.

Businesses who don't check vaccination status will need to maintain a mask mandate.https://t.co/6pFCZpLptK

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) May 20, 2021

In rejecting the more practical and individual liberty embracing “honor system” approach that we’ve seen across the United States, the authorities in Salem are taking the fascist policy route.

“Oregon will allow people to go maskless outside but will require them to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — and be able to prove it — to forgo masks in most public indoor settings,” the Oregonian reports.

Yes, you read that correctly. Oregon finally ended its *outdoor* mask mandate, a full year and a half into Covid Mania. And in exchange for “granting” systems the freedom to breathe fresh air, they will now be forced to show “proof of vaccination” if they want to participate in society.

“We hope that Oregonians will not lie or cheat and put others at risk by forging a vaccine record if they aren’t vaccinated,” Oregon’s state epidemiologist, Dean Sidelinger, said in a presser with local journalists. Sidelinger, a power-drunk quack, made a name for himself in the state by demanding long-term closures of businesses and faith institutions. He has recently perpetuated the falsehood that schools are vectors for transmission.

It would be worth seriously debating the merits of this authoritarian insanity if, in fact, Oregon could demonstrate that they were “following the science” on this issue, but it’s clear that this order has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with power and control.

The idea that there is any science backing a “papers, please” approach to “stopping the spread” is entirely baseless.

Two important points:

First and foremost, there is no comprehensive trial that shows masks actually work at preventing COVID-19, so the premise for the mask policy is false. There is no evidence that cloth masks help stop the spread of a submicroscopic infectious particle. In fact, there is more evidence demonstrating that masks may act as a vector for disease transmission.

Second, if vaccines work to protect people from serious outcomes related to COVID-19, what exactly is the point of demanding that businesses force customers to show their vaccine papers? Yes, that was rhetorical. COVID Mania has largely been nothing more than an excuse for politicians and oligarchs to accumulate more power. If the vaccine protects individuals from people who choose not to take the COVID-19 vaccine, then there is no particular threat to anyone but those who choose to opt-out. There is zero science behind the idea of a COVID-19 vaccine passport.

It seems that the next steps for Oregon are obvious. That may come in the form of a more streamlined digital vaccine passport system, as we’ve seen in places like New York and Hawaii (the good news is that these systems are struggling big time). Small businesses may not be able to find resources to manually check vaccine cards, as many companies with thinner margins simply don’t have the resources to add a vaccine passport doorman to their roster. Therefore, companies will be forced to automate and use corporate authoritarian vaccine passport systems like those designed by companies like IBM, Common Pass, and Clear, among others.

Another side effect of this fascistic dystopian policy is the reality that people will be encouraged to wear their “vaccine credentials” to complement their mask, as a “practical measure” to be allowed entry into a business. It will be understood as the ultimate virtue signal, and a sign of complete obedience to authority, should Oregonians have both a mask on and a vaccine card readily on display.

With the corrupt policies being pursued by the authorities in statewide office, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that not everyone in the state is thrilled with the policies being pushed by Salem. On Tuesday, 5 Oregon counties voted in favor of leaving the state and becoming part of Idaho.