Los Angeles is launching a digital iPhone receipt for COVID-19 vaccinations, raising fears that such instruments could become ‘vaccine passports’ needed for such activities as air travel and live concerts.
The plan, released this week, will see the Los Angeles County partnership with tech firm Healthvana issue digital verifications, which can be placed in an Apple Wallet or Android equivalent, Bloomberg reports.
The project is initially aimed at ensuring that people who receive the first ingestion of the approved Pfizer or Moderna vaccines also receive the required booster shot, including through follow-up notices.
But the digital receipt can also be used “to prove to airlines, to prove to schools, to prove to whoever needs it”, that someone has been vaccinated, Healthvana CEO Ramin Bastani told Bloomberg .
But critics fear it is the rise of a vaccine surveillance state, where digital ‘passports’ are needed for everything from flying a plane to a movie.
Los Angeles Fire Department, Capt. Elliot Ibanez, left, receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine given by paramedic LAFD on Monday. LA County will soon begin issuing digital evidence of vaccination, raising the prospect of a new ‘vaccine passport’ system
The plan, unveiled this week, will see the Los Angeles County partnership with tech firm Healthvana issue digital verifications, which can be placed in an Apple Wallet (stock photo)
LA received vaccinations due to the fact that the province was the latest U.S. hub of the coronavirus pandemic, which was above 7,000 Covid hospitalizations for the first time Monday.
Health officials hope digital records can help streamline the complex two-step vaccination process, and ensure no doses are wasted for people who do not get the required booster chance.
However, privacy groups have warned of the potential future consequences of a ‘data grab’ of medical information by private companies.
“This great moment of hope should not be opportunistically seen as another piece of information,” the advocacy group Privacy International said in a statement.
“The deployment of vaccines, and in particular an ‘immunization passport’ or vaccine-linked certificate, must respect human rights, ‘the group added.
A ‘vaccine passport’ system will also raise questions about what to do with people who have natural antibodies against the virus after recovering from an infection.
The vaccines currently being administered in the US are also not currently approved for anyone under the age of 16, due to the lack of clinical data for that age group, which raises questions about how children will be treated under a passport regime. .
Critics fear it is the rise of a dystopian state for vaccination vaccines, where digital ‘vaccine passports’ are needed, from flying planes to movies
And because vaccination has been much slower than the federal government predicted, with only two million shots fired so far, a passport system raises concerns about a dual society that includes those who could not access the vaccine.
Australian airline Qantas has already announced that it will require coronavirus shots for all passengers on its international flights.
Businesses such as concert halls and live sports, which are desperate to bring crowds back as soon as possible, have also suggested that vaccine passports could start the economy, a turning point until the pandemic is crushed once and for all.
Last month, Ticketmaster announced that it will introduce an option in its digital ticket app that allows organizers of the opportunity to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.
The company quickly fell back after striking back and issued a statement explaining that “there is absolutely no requirement for Ticketmaster to provide vaccines / testing for future events.”
An ER worker was vaccinated for coronavirus in Los Angeles last week. The city is one of the first to launch digital evidence of vaccination
A number of companies are working on digital vaccination systems, including IBM and Clear, a security company that uses biometric technology to verify people’s identities at airports.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is promoting a vaccine passport called IATA Travel Pass, which is still under development.
The system will inform passengers what tests, vaccines and other measures they need before they travel, and provide digital verification of tests and vaccinations to airlines or other authorities.
Heath data faces strict regulations under federal law, which according to the companies that follow vaccine passports, comply.
The patchwork quilt of various proposals has also raised fears that vaccine vaccination systems adopted in one country or country may not be compatible with those elsewhere.
The Commons Project, in collaboration with The World Economic Forum and a series of public and private partners, hopes to solve the problem with CommonPass, a trusted, globally interoperable platform. ‘
‘You can be tested every time you cross a border. “You can not be vaccinated every time you cross a border,” Thomas Crampton, head of marketing and communications for The Commons Project, told CNN Business.
However, Healthvana CEO Ramin Bastani has expressed doubts that any vaccine verification service would be available across the country.
“It will not be like one credit card you can use in the US,” he told Bloomberg. “Sometimes you can pay cash, sometimes you have Apple Wallet.”