"I do see a complicated challenge ahead of us, with documents from around the world to verify, and no current national digital vaccine passport standard that could help facilitate the process before travelers depart," Emory's Wu says. Check with your airline before traveling: Some accept apps that store a copy of your vaccine card. has said it will allow vaccinated people from other countries to fly in, that proof will likely have to be in hard copy format for the time being. However, that QR code technology can so far only be used within the city, state or country issuing it. You can store a QR code where you wish: literally on a piece of paper, as a photo on your phone, even within a fancy app. QR codes use encrypted signatures, or electronic fingerprints, so they can't be copied and used for other names (although if someone stole your driver's license as well, they could presumably use your QR code). Israel, India, Brazil and China all use QR-based systems. Here's a state-by-state rundown of digital options compiled by PC Magazine.Īn easier, cheaper and more secure electronic option would be for states to send residents a QR code that links to their vaccine status, says Raskar, who is also the founder of PathCheck Foundation, which creates software for vaccine credentials and exposure notifications apps. Alabama's governor, for example, signed legislation in May that bans the use of digital vaccine credentials. Some states, such as Hawaii, have apps designated for visitors to show proof of vaccination more easily while they're in the state, but others have banned vaccination verification apps altogether, considering them government overreach. "Even if you are enrolled in one of the digital vaccine certificate or passport systems, I would still always carry the original card during travel since no vaccine passport system is universally recognized," he says. And that's not the only potential digital flaw. "Technical issues such as a dead or lost phone are always concerns," says Henry Wu, director of Emory TravelWell Center and an associate professor of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine. This includes your phone not dying as you're waiting in line. "A lot has to happen for everything to go right," Raskar says. So unless you happen to be traveling to a state that uses the same one, it probably won't get you far. Most current credential systems can only be verified by the apps in the state by which they're issued. Many users complain the app gets stuck on a blank blue screen.Īnd there is no guarantee that other states will be able or willing to use the app from your home state. Also, downloading information on the spot can pose security and privacy issues, just like a credit card, "where some Big Brother knows about the customer, the shopkeeper and the transaction," points out Ramesh Raskar, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab associate professor - not to mention hassles. To extend it, he had to download an upgrade to the app. New York, for example, uses an app called Excelsior Pass.īut when Frieden pulled up his Excelsior Pass recently, he noticed it had just expired, six months after his second dose. So if you don't want to tote your paper card everywhere, what are the options? Depending on where you live, you might be able to go digital - at least, if you stay close to home. "But the result is that mandates will be harder to enforce and less secure." "The frank truth is, mandates and vaccine passports have become a political third rail, and the administration is understandably reluctant to take action in this area," he says. Frieden and others are advocating for national guidelines for a more secure, accurate and flexible system to prove you're vaccinated.
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