Los Angeles is launching a digital iPhone receipt for COVID-19 vaccinations, raising fears that such tools could become ‘vaccine passports’ that would be needed for activities like air travel and live shows.
The plan being implemented this week will see the Los Angeles County partnership with technology company Healthvana to issue digital checks, which can be placed in an Apple wallet or equivalent to Android, Bloomberg said.
The project’s initial objective is to ensure that people who receive the first injection of the approved Pfizer or Moderna vaccines also receive the necessary booster injection, including through follow-up notifications.
But the digital receipt can also be used “to prove to airlines, to schools, to prove to those in need,” that a person has been vaccinated, Healthvana CEO Ramin Bastani told Bloomberg.
But critics fear that this marks the emergence of a state of vaccine surveillance, where digital ‘passports’ are needed for everything from flying on an airplane to going to the cinema.
Los Angeles Fire Department captain Elliot Ibanez, on the left, receives the Modern COVID-19 vaccine given by LAFD paramedic Anthony Kong on Monday. LA County will soon begin issuing digital proof of vaccination, raising the prospect of a new ‘vaccine passport’ system
The plan being implemented this week will see the Los Angeles County partnership with technology company Healthvana to issue digital checks, which can be placed in an Apple wallet (photo)
LA vaccine prescriptions come at a time when the county has emerged as the latest epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, topping 7,000 hospitalizations for Covid for the first time on Monday.
Health officials hope that digital records can help streamline the complex two-stage vaccination process, ensuring that no doses are wasted on people who fail to receive the necessary booster dose.
But privacy groups have warned of the potential future effects of a ‘data capture’ of medical information by private companies.
“This great moment of hope should not be seen opportunistically as another collection of data,” said advocacy group Privacy International in a statement.
“The distribution of vaccines, and in particular any ‘immunity passport’ or vaccination-related certificate, must respect human rights,” the group added.
A ‘vaccine passport’ system would also raise questions about what to do with people who have natural antibodies to the virus after they recover from an infection.
Vaccines currently being administered in the United States are also not approved for children under 16, due to the lack of clinical data for this age group, raising questions about how children would be treated with a passport regime.
Critics fear this marks the emergence of a dystopian state of vaccine surveillance, where digital ‘vaccine passports’ are needed for everything from flying on an airplane to going to the cinema
And since vaccination has gone much more slowly than the federal government had planned, with just over two million vaccines administered to date, a passport system raises concerns about a two-tier society that excludes those who were unable to access vaccine.
Australian airline Qantas has already announced that it will begin requiring coronavirus vaccines for all passengers on its international flights.
Businesses like live venues and live sports, which are desperate to bring back crowds as quickly as possible, have also suggested that vaccine passports could boost the economy, a palliative measure until the pandemic is crushed once and for all.
Last month, Ticketmaster announced that it would launch an option in its digital ticket application that would allow event organizers to require proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.
The company quickly backed off after facing the reaction, issuing a statement clarifying that ‘there is absolutely no requirement for Ticketmaster to mandate vaccines / tests for future events.’
An emergency room worker was vaccinated against coronavirus last week in Los Angeles. The city is one of the first to start issuing digital proof of vaccination
Several companies are working on digital vaccination verification systems, including IBM and Clear, a security company that uses biometric technology to confirm the identity of people at airports.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is promoting a vaccine passport called the IATA Travel Pass, which is still in development.
The system would inform passengers what tests, vaccines and other measures they need before traveling, and would provide digital verification of tests and vaccinations to airlines or other authorities.
Heath’s data faces strict regulations under federal law, which all companies seeking vaccine passports say they are complying with.
The patchwork of different proposals has also raised fears that vaccine verification systems adopted in one state or country may not be compatible with those elsewhere.
The Commons Project, in conjunction with the World Economic Forum and a number of public and private partners, hopes to solve this problem with CommonPass, ‘a reliable and globally interoperable platform’.
‘You can be tested every time you cross a border. You cannot be vaccinated every time you cross a border, ‘Thomas Crampton, director of marketing and communications for The Commons Project, told CNN Business.
However, Ramin Bastani, the CEO of Healthvana, expressed doubts that any vaccine verification service would become ubiquitous across the country.
“It won’t be like a credit card that you can use in the United States,” he told Bloomberg. ‘Sometimes you can pay cash, sometimes you can use your Apple Wallet.’