Back when immunity passports were all the rage and government autocrats were trying to treat the unvaccinated like lepers, New York State was an early leader in taking the process online. They hired some technical wizards to create the Excelsior Pass, an app that residents could install on their phones and display when attempting to enter bars, restaurants, theaters, or stores where the filthy, un-American unvaccinated people were not welcome. Some businesses even installed kiosks that could connect with the app to speed up the process.

Of course, none of that technological innovation came cheaply. The state has already sunk more than $64 million into it, but at this point, the pandemic emergency has expired and passports are no longer required. But as National Review reports this week, the costs are still adding up every month despite the almost complete lack of use and they will continue to do so for some time to come.

The essentially obsolete digital vaccine card that New York developed during the pandemic has cost the state government over $64 million since inception, and the number continues to grow as contracted companies are paid to maintain it.

The Excelsior Pass has thus far cost the state $64 million, most of which went to IBM, Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte, consulting firms that developed and maintenance the technology, the Times Union reported. The contracts with the latter firms, which amounted to $28 million, are now part of a state inspector general’s investigation into certain public spending during Covid. IBM received $36 million for its work on the app, the publication noted.

The state can’t stop spending the money because they signed contracts with various providers to create and maintain the technology. Some of those contracts stretch on for five years. New York’s leaders obviously thought that vaccine passports would be part of the “new normal” and would be used indefinitely. And if they’re being honest, I bet a lot of them were hoping that would be the case.

People hated it, of course, just as they hated being locked down in their homes and dismissed from their jobs. Being forced to display some sort of digital merit badge showing that you’d taken the jabs was demeaning and divisive. And as soon as the pandemic began to fade and the restrictions were lifted, people simply stopped using the app.

So how do they explain the current fiscal drain and the continued life of the “service?” A state Health Department spokesman said, “The app continues to offer New Yorkers a safe and secure mobile application that brings state-issued digital passes, licenses and records directly to their fingertips.”

But why are you continuing to provide passes that nobody is asking for? What sort of “license” is being offered that has anything to do with someone’s vaccination status? And if the “records” in question involve people’s medical records, they have no business being in that system.

Of the many lessons we need to have learned from this entire debacle, this one should be near the top of the list. Immunity passports were a terrible idea from the moment they emerged. People were never going to tolerate them indefinitely and any politicians pushing to keep them in place would have soon been out of a job. And the worst part was that the Empire Pass system never worked that well. People were able to easily steal the digital passcodes of others. You were supposed to scan your CDC vax card with your phone to set up your account, but one reporter was able to obtain an Empire Pass after scanning the menu from a pizza restaurant.

I realize most of us would like to just forget all about this and put it all behind us. But we really can’t. We already saw how these autocrats reacted last time and there will be another pandemic or some other “state of emergency” coming along before long (probably a “climate emergency”). We can’t let them do this again. Next time they may never give up the power.