A coalition of health and technology companies that includes both Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE: CRM), and Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) is working on the development of a digital passport for COVID-19 vaccines.
What happened: The Vaccine Credential Initiative also includes MITER, Mayo Clinic, Evernorth, The Commons Project Foundation and CARIN Alliance, among others, according to a statement released Thursday.
“As the world begins to recover from the pandemic, having electronic access to vaccination, testing and other medical records will be vital to resuming travel and more,” said Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle’s global business units. .
The group predicts that a reliable, traceable, verifiable and universally recognized digital vaccination record is urgently needed.
Why it matters: The body wants to enable individuals to obtain an encrypted copy of the inoculation credentials and store it in a digital wallet of their choice – such as those provided by Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) or Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google unit.
Alternatively, users can print a paper copy of the credentials containing a QR code.
See too: How Oracle is tracking COVID-19 vaccines in the cloud
Last month, the International Air Transport Association also unveiled the key design elements of its IATA Travel Pass, which helps travelers protect and manage travel according to government requirements for COVID-19 testing or vaccine information.
The IATA application should be launched in the first quarter of this year and will be available on iOS and Android platforms.
Price action: Microsoft shares closed nearly 1.5% lower at $ 213.02 on Thursday and rose 0.23% in the after-hours session. On the same day, Oracle shares closed almost 0.8% lower, at $ 61.60.
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