Starting on Monday places like New York City will require proof of vaccination for most indoor activities such as eating in a restaurant or working out at the gym. This means if you are leaving your house you need to make sure you have your phone, wallet, keys, mask… and some form of your COVID-19 vaccine record.
You can always bring the original copy of your vaccination card, but you carry the risk of losing it. It’s much less risky to store it digitally, but as of right now digital vaccine record options remain variable. These variables are making the uptick in travel all the more difficult as a growing number of counties now require a digital proof of vaccination, which are essentially your health record stored on your phone.
Places like Canada and Europe have deployed their own nationwide digital ‘passport’ for incoming travelers. If you are heading to Canada you will be required to download the free ArriveCAN app. The app verifies the vaccination status of the traveler. Visitors must upload their passport, COVID-19 vaccination documentation, and a negative PCR test – the application will then provide the user a digital receipt that they will present at the border or customs. Similarly, European travelers are using the EU Digital Covid Certificate that allows users to travel between all of the European Union’s 27 member countries freely.
These ‘passports’ offer so much convenience for travelers. So why hasn’t the United States deployed something similar? The current administration has not been able to get behind generating an application because the topic of vaccination passports has become one of political opposition with 15 states limiting or banning the use of vaccine passports. This has left the United States depending on our paper vaccination cards – that are easy to lose, require human confirmation, and are easily replicated.
It seems like we are nowhere close to creating a federal solution, so it will be up to each individual state and the private sector to decide how it will provide its residents a way to access their records in a digital way. Just recently, several technology and healthcare organizations have teamed up to create the SMART Health Card which is a digital vaccination card based on Boston Children’s Hospitals technology.
The SMART Health Card is a part of the Vaccination Credential Initiative. It is a group made up of organizations including Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, and Mayo Clinic. As more places are placing vaccine mandates for customers and employees, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paper cards are vital but not durable, this health card is a much more secure option and is currently being rolled out throughout the United States.
The application runs by using a QR code that is accessible though a smartphone, when the user pulls up the code, their name, DOB, and vaccination information will appear on the screen.
And as unfortunate as it is, with the delta variant creating another wave of coronavirus, the need for vaccine passports isn’t going anywhere, so if you plan to travel or head to a local event, its best to utilize an application the SMART Health Card, or at the least take a photo and have it handy at all times.
Sources:
https://www.govtech.com/health/standardized-digital-vaccination-card-coming-soon-to-states
About the Author: Taylor Genter
Taylor is a Marketing Manager at Extract with experience in data analytics, graphic design, and both digital and social media marketing. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Taylor enjoys analyzing people’s behaviors and attitudes to find out what motivates them, and then curating better ways to communicate with them.