GATES MOVING FORWARD WITH DIGITAL VACCINE PASSPORT
New York (CNN Business)With coronavirus vaccines now rolling out across the United States, businesses and schools are considering how, and what it will take, to safely resume in-person operations.
Some of the country's biggest tech firms and health care organizations have joined together to help facilitate that return to "normal." The group, called the Vaccine Credential Initiative, wants to ensure that everyone has access to a secure, digital record of their Covid-19 vaccination — like a digital vaccine passport — that can be stored in people's smartphones. The records could be used for everything from airline travel to entering concert venues.
The coalition comprises a broad range of health care and tech leaders including Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM), Oracle (ORCL), Cerner (CERN), Cigna's (CI) Evernorth, health care software firm Epic and the Mayo Clinic, among others.
The announcement Thursday comes amid a rocky start to the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Of the 30.6 million doses of vaccines that have been distributed to US hospitals, health centers and pharmacies, only about 10.6 million people had received at least their first dose as of Friday morning, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although it's early in the vaccination process, potential use cases for such a technology are already cropping up. Some companies, including Dollar General (DG) and Instacart, plan to pay their workers to get vaccinated. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner has said that once children have access to vaccines, all district students must get immunized before returning to classrooms. And some experts expect that states and countries currently requiring negative Covid-19 test results for incoming travelers will eventually also accept vaccination records.
"A secure, convenient solution to verify Covid-19 vaccination will play an important role in accelerating a healthy and safe return to work, school and life in general," said Joan Harvey, president of care solutions at Evernorth, Cigna's health services business.
The importance of digital records
The Vaccine Credential Initiative wants to create an open-source, standard model for how hospitals, pharmacies and clinics administering Covid-19 vaccines make digital records of immunizations, which can be provided to patients who want them.
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