With several countries across the world now mandating visitors to provide some kind of digital proof regarding vaccination, international travellers are carrying evidence of their vaccination status during the journey.
For instance, visitors to Canada need to download the free ArriveCAN app to prove their vaccination status before boarding a flight. And all 27 member countries of the European Union are now using the EU Digital Covid Certificate, while India wants visitors to install the Aarogya Setu app on their phones to verify their vaccination status digitally.
Digital verification has become common in the domestic country, too. Anyone road-tripping in the US and entering a restaurant or an entertainment venue, etc. requires proof of vaccination.
The Biden cabinet has declined to get behind a national vaccination verification app in the US, as 15 Republican-leaning states banned vaccine passports via legislation or governor’s executive orders. This means Americans still have to rely on paper vaccination records from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. If the verification is done by this method, the records are likely to be lost or easily faked. Moreover, it requires human scrutiny to authenticate the data.
In such a situation, there are plenty of tech companies that are offering help in addressing such an issue by identifying and verifying proof. For example, Airside Mobile is offering modern solutions to age-old travellers’ conundrums. The tech company’s Digital Identity app allows travellers (if they use a smartphone) to manage securely all of their verified identity credentials like passport, driver’s license, Covid vaccination record, etc. at their fingertips.
There are other options for Americans to show their vaccination status proof without carrying the paper solution. Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), a private-public partnership of technology and health care companies, has created a verifiable digital proof of vaccination called SMART Health Card that generates a QR code, making the proof accessible to people through a smartphone or a printed out record. When the code is scanned, only the required information such as the individual’s name, date of birth and vaccination information pop up. No other information related to medical or personal data is shared. This code is digitally signed ensuring that the card was issued from a verified location, preventing forgery.
Apart from these two, there are several such apps like the MyColorado app, and Docket, that easily make your digital vaccine record accessible. Whichever state you live in in the US, you can keep a digital record of your vaccination status on such an app. If any of the mentioned apps declines to register your data, you can do it by finding your state on the CDC’s list of state and regional immunization registries.
