International Digital Vaccine Certificates

[BlueMTexpat]

As a US citizen who is also a legal resident of Switzerland, I have been fortunate to experience the benefits of living in a wholly civilized nation. One of these is that I am now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, having received both doses of the Moderna vaccine - one in January and the other in February (last Thursday).

During my first vaccination, I had not brought my International Vaccination Certificate with me and was asked to be sure to bring it the second time - which I did. After the information about my Covid-19 vaccinations was recorded, I was asked whether I wanted to have a digital version. Of course, I said yes and was directed to the following site: https://www.myvaccines.ch/?fbclid=IwAR0slVUWoVxz2oiKX3N-dWMephgHh3HQv4rx5Wyd4xs0peat90eVwox3bsM

I posted about this experience on Facebook and many non-Swiss FB friends expressed interest. So I did some research. Apparently these digital certificates are in the works although they are not yet widely available elsewhere. https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3995810/digital-covid-19-vaccine-certificates-the-road-to-a-new-?fbclid=IwAR08uE1w0xXrLlHiLPNEs_h3NcKu7B1lFl7fsusyez59ZyYVG5RvRdG0s48

From the link:

...
In mid-January a coalition of large tech and health companies launched the Vaccine Credential Initiative to create a system for storing and retrieving digital records of vaccinations. Participants include Microsoft, Oracle, the Mayo Clinic, Salesforce, Epic, Cerner and all three major airline alliances. In the same time frame, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a digital health working group to develop a framework and standards for a smart digital vaccine certificate for yellow fever and COVID-19, paving the way to add other vaccines later.

Airlines have already been getting on board with solution trials; Qantas has said that proof of vaccination will be required to take a seat on one of its planes and United and Cathay Pacific begun a pilot project in October 2020 on select routes using CommonPass — a QR code that contains COVID-19 testing and vaccination data.
...

Here is more information about the WHO Working Group: https://www.who.int/groups/smart-vaccination-certificate-working-group?fbclid=IwAR36eAOqq1iUdqBwfjFqyY9dwjyUcuzTfbKST2MaxADBx6AZrqCnYbl79yM

For WHO to remain software neutral, the Smart Vaccination Certificate approach will focus on establishing key specifications, standards, trust framework for a digital vaccination certificate to facilitate implementation of effective and interoperable digital solutions that support COVID-19 vaccine delivery and monitoring, with intended applicability to other vaccines. With WHO, a number of agencies including UNICEF, GAVI, ITU, and EC DG SANTE are contributing to this initiative to establish a multi-sectoral consortium focused on joint-learning and supporting use of the finalized specifications and standards for digital vaccination certificates, architected for linkage to national and cross-border digital systems.

The Smart Vaccination Certificate consortium will bring together experts to focus on defining specifications and standards for a digital vaccination certificate that would serve current and future requirements, toward the dual purpose of (1) facilitating monitoring of national COVID-19 vaccination programs as well as (2) supporting cross-border uses architected for a potential future in which the COVID-19 vaccine would be included in an updated version of the International Health Regulations.

Switzerland is likely a beneficiary of having WHO headquartered in Geneva and also because many Swiss nationals and residents generally travel internationally a lot, so having such information readily available is very important.

But this is also a reminder of the absolute stupidity of the previous administration to pull the US out of WHO membership in the midst of a pandemic.

Thank heavens, sanity has returned with the Biden Administration!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Is that International Vaccine Certificate yellow?

I recall a yellow vaccine certificate back in the 1970s, when I needed proof of a smallpox vaccination when travelling abroad. Alas, I kept on losing it, and kept on getting a new smallpox vaccination. After a while, they no longer "took", meaning there was no longer had any kind of reaction, because I was so fully immunized from smallpox.

Factoid: the last smallpox outbreak in the United States was in 1948, and it was somewhat obvious that people who'd last had a smallpox vaccination some 50 years earlier were still protected.

[NJCher]

2. Helpful

Thanks—a member of this household travels internationally and is scheduled for Italy in June, so I will pass this along.

[SheltieLover]

3. Excellent! 👏👏👏👏

Ty for sharing!

[BlueMTexpat]

4. Delighted to be able

to do so!

[SheltieLover]

5. So happy we now have a sane president!

Fabulous you are able to live in Switzerland! I've always wanted to visit Zurich!

Enjoy!