California’s Digital Vaccine Verification Tool for COVID-19

California’s Department of Public Health and Technology announced a new option for citizens to maintain digital copies of their COVID-19 immunization data. However, they have made it clear to the state that vaccination credentials would not require carrying around.

For scanning the QR code on the digital vaccine cards, a nonprofit group’s application will enable businesses to check the validity. During a press conference, Chief Information Officer Amy Tong stated that at myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov, the state’s roughly 20 million vaccinated residents can access and preserve their vaccination records. Covid-19 Vaccine Record Portal depends on the state’s current vaccination record. Also, it offers the same details as paper cards given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is an option for those who wish to have a digital card instead of those paper cards.

Steps to follow for the Digital Vaccine Cards:
Californians who are vaccinated will need to fill an online form. It has options to enter their name, date of birth, and mobile phone number or email address they supplied during their vaccination procedure. It will then establish a four-digit pin. This will generate a QR code that is directly linked with the patient’s COVID-19 vaccination record.

If you give a phone number, you will receive a text message containing the URL you requested. If you enter an email address, you will receive the link through email. To access the link, click on it and enter the PIN that you set up previously. Your Covid-19 vaccination record and the QR code are generated. Screenshot the picture and preserve it, or print it off for a paper copy of your immunization. For the next 24 hours, you may access your digital vaccination record by clicking on the URL provided above. Your record and a fresh link will need to be requested again afterwards.

Benefits of Digital Cards:
Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s epidemiologist, told reporters that a digital COVID-19 vaccination record is a useful backup in case someone loses their paper CDC card. Lucy Dunn, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Orange County Business Council, told the Associated Press that paper documents are more susceptible to being faked.

Dunn believes California’s new COVID-19 immunization records are optional, personal, secured, and simple to add to your smartphone’s digital wallet as just an airline boarding ticket.

Compared with other states:
NBC News stated that California Governor Gavin Newsom claimed the tool does not create a “vaccine passport” amid continued worries about potential discrimination based on individual vaccination statuses.

In the United States, New York is the only state to enact a similar programme called an “Excelsior Pass”. It is a mobile application associated with their vaccination database. It lets the vaccinated citizens verify their vaccination status while attending major events. This is quite similar to the Excelsior Pass programme. But California’s new web gateway does not have an app, but it performs the same purpose.

A requirement that all attendees at big indoor gatherings (e.g., concerts, sporting events) produce proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test remains in place, even though the Golden State has mostly reopened its neighbourhoods and business. United States travellers entering other nations are required to provide proof of vaccination despite opposition from certain Americans.