Megan Redshaw wrote in a Wednesday article at Children's Health Defense that the credit goes to Ron Paul who, while serving as a member of the US House of Representatives, led the effort to bar the US government from creating for each American a "unique health identifier" number.

Redshaw wrote:

So far, the Biden administration has resisted the idea of a "vaccine passport" for the U.S. On May 28, U.S. Director of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. was taking a "very close look" at vaccine passports for international travel. Later that day, the DHS clarified there will be no "federal mandate" for vaccine passports in the U.S.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. does not have a national database for immunization records that could act as the source of vaccination data for use in digital passes. That's because a national system to create a unique identification number to link the health records of every American has been banned since 1998, spearheaded by then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who said such a system would be an unwarranted privacy intrusion.

An attempt to overturn the ban passed the U.S. House in 2019, but was rejected by the Senate.

Paul left the US House in January of 2013.