Looking ahead to days when people will be required to have proof of pandemic vaccination, a high-profile group unveiled its plan for a digital passport of sorts, something similar to what IBM embraced in late December.
Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce are among several high-tech firms as well as The Mayo Clinic are supporting a coalition effort to develop and deploy a digital healthcard that would include vaccination records.
The group announced the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI) in New York on Thursday.
IBM launched its own “digital passport” effort in December along with Salesforce.
“At the start of the pandemic, many organizations deployed simple COVID-19 screenings, such as self-reported health surveys, to support re-entry to workplaces and other institutions,” said Paul Roma, general manager of IBM Watson Health. “Now, as testing becomes more widespread and vaccine distribution gets underway, we are expanding the availability of IBM Digital Health Pass with Salesforce to help organizations verify an individual’s vaccine status and any other relevant health credentials,” he added, according to FierceBiotech.
IBM says its Digital Health Pass “is designed to provide organizations with a smart way to bring people back to a physical location, such as a workplace, school, stadium or airline flight.”
Data for the latest effort would be included through the SMART Health Cards specification.
“VCI’s vision is to empower individuals to obtain an encrypted digital copy of their immunization credentials to store in a digital wallet of their choice,” the group said. “Those without smartphones could receive paper printed with QR codes containing W3C verifiable credentials.”
The Vaccination Credential Initiative has created an informational website at vaccinationcredential.org for more information.
“As the world begins to recover from the pandemic, having electronic access to vaccination, testing, and other medical records will be vital to resuming travel and more,” said Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle’s Global Business Units. “This process needs to be as easy as online banking. We are committed to working collectively with the technology and medical communities, as well as global governments, to ensure people will have secure access to this information where and when they need it.”
“Salesforce is proud to join the Vaccination Credential Initiative to help organizations easily and safely customize all aspects of the vaccination management lifecycle and integrate closely with other coalition members’ offerings, which will help us all get back to public life,” said Bill Patterson, executive vice president and general manager, CRM Applications at Salesforce. “With a single platform to help deliver safe and continuous operations and deepen trust with customers and employees, this coalition will be crucial to support public health and wellbeing.”
