The idea of a ‘vaccine passport’, which allows people to prove they have been vaccinated against Covid, has been drawn into a political debate about personal freedom. But this does not understand how these apps are likely to be used. Passports would empower consumers by giving them more control over their own health information.
Millions of Americans now have index cards listing their vaccine batches and dates. But your doctor and health plan don’t necessarily have that information. The card can be lost and is easy to counterfeit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention require states to maintain databases as a condition of sending vaccines. But there are more than 60 separate systems – some big states like Texas have a few, and New York City has its own. The registration system uses an existing scheme for childhood vaccination programs: it was set up years ago so that pediatricians can request these sites that a child has been vaccinated.
The federal government had to set up a registration system quickly before the country could reach consensus on how consumers should store this information. Instead, states were asked to get rid of the existing system with no clear plan for consumer access; the priority was getting weapons.
In some cases, health plans are notified that you have received a vaccine, at least if you voluntarily present your insurance card when you have been vaccinated. But that doesn’t help the millions who are uninsured or given the chance of a mass vaccination site or some other non-standard place like an optometrist’s office.
As a result, there is no easy way to prove that you have been vaccinated. You need cryptographically signed data that cannot be easily forged – a digital card that allows you to retrieve and store test and vaccination data in a secure and verifiable way, via an app or a QR code.