A coalition of health and technology organizations is working to develop a digital vaccination passport COVID-19 to enable companies, airlines and countries to verify that people have received the vaccine.
The vaccination accreditation initiative, announced on Thursday, formulates technology to confirm vaccinations, some governments are likely to mandate people to provide evidence of their shots to enter the country.
The organization hopes the technology will allow people to “demonstrate their health to return safely to travel, work, school and life, while protecting data confidentiality.”
The initiative, which includes members such as Microsoft, Oracle and the US Non-Profit Mayo Clinic, uses work from the international digital document member Commons Project, which checks whether a person has tested negative for COVID-19, the Financial Times reported.
The Commons Project technology, created in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, is used by three major airline alliances.
The coalition is in talks with several governments to create a program that requires either negative tests or vaccination evidence to enter, Paul Meyer, executive director of The Commons Project, told the Times.
“The aim of the vaccination accreditation initiative is to empower people with digital access to their vaccination records so that they can use tools such as the CommonPass to return safely to travel, work, school and life, while protecting data confidentiality, ”Meyer said in a statement.
People who have been vaccinated are now receiving a piece of paper confirming their vaccination, he said, but the coalition could draw up a digital certificate using electronic medical records.
The technology will need to allow patients to keep their data safe while it is available in a digital wallet or physical QR code for them to regulate who sees the information.
The vaccination accreditation initiative expects certain businesses, such as event planners and universities, to require consumers, students and workers to provide proof of vaccination, according to the Times.
Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle’s Global Business Units, said in a statement that the passport “must be as easy as online banking.”
“We are committed to working collectively with the technology and medical communities, as well as with global governments, to ensure that people have secure access to this information where and when they need it,” he added.
The project is also developing as new strains of COVID-19 appear around the world, including the spread of the variant considered to be more contagious, which was discovered in the United Kingdom.