If you are one of the lucky 10.8 million who received the COVID-19 vaccine (this is about one in 30 Americans), you now only need to show a piece of paper, but that may soon change.
A coalition of tech companies and health organizations announced Thursday that they are working on developing an app that will enable people to share their immunization status, the New York Times reported.
The companies, including Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft and the Mayo Clinic, are working on building a “vaccination passport app” that allows people to determine their vaccination status for work, travel and other activities.
A similar app is already available for airlines to show airlines that they have recently tested negative for COVID-19 to board an aircraft. The Common Pass is currently used by United Airline and JetBlue, among others.
The Vaccine Vaccination Initiative (VCI) is being launched to provide a “reliable, traceable, verifiable and universally recognized digital record of vaccination status”, the coalition said in a news release. A digital record “is urgently needed worldwide to enable people to safely return to work, school, opportunities and travel,” reads the release.
VCI’s goal is to give individuals access to an encrypted digital copy of their vaccination records. The coalition also stated that those without smartphones could receive paper with QR codes containing the referents.
The current COVID-19 issued Centers for Disease Control and Prevention documents include the manufacturer of the vaccine, the lot number and the date of vaccination, but there is no federal system that allows easy access to immunization records online.
“As the world begins to recover from the pandemic, it is imperative to resume electronic access to vaccinations, testing and other medical records, and more,” said Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle’s Global Business Units, in the statement. . “This process should be as easy as online banking.”