Norwegian Cruise Line.Photo: Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is fighting a Florida state law that prevents cruise companies from requiring passengers to show proof of vaccination againstCOVID-19in order to board.
According tocourt documentsfiled Tuesday, the powerhouse cruise line company is suing Florida Surgeon GeneralScott A. Rivkees"as a last resort after the State of Florida has indicated that it is otherwise preventing NCLH from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida, starting August 15, 2021, in the way that this cruise line has determined will be best for all concerned — with the benefit of documentation confirming that all of its passengers and crew have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19."
The filing comes after the state’sGov. Ron DeSantisbanned businesses from requiringCOVID-19 “vaccination passports"or any other proof of vaccine from its customers. The law went into effect on July 1, according toForbes.
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COVID-19 vaccination record.Getty Images
The company went on to allege that “Florida’s Ban on vaccine verification poses imminent, substantial, irreparable harms to NCLH’s business.”
“Risk ofexposure to COVID-19 will invariably tick upif NCLH is denied the ability to verify through documentation that all passengers have been fully vaccinated,” the cruise line argued. “The inability to verify vaccination status will hobble NCLH’s ability to attract, assure and protect passengers.”
Man refusing vaccine.Getty Images
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The filing comes as the virus' highly contagious Delta variant recently became themost dominant strain of COVID-19circulating in the country.
As of Wednesday morning, about 184.5 million Americans (55.6% of the total population) have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 159.7 million (48.1%) are fully vaccinated, according to theCDC.
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source: people.com
