IBM’s blockchain-based digital health app for proving COVID-19 vaccination and test results is now live. The app, called “Excelsior Pass,” is the first of its kind to go live in the U.S. It will allow people to use a QR code to prove their COVID-19 vaccination status. According to the official announcement, the passport is a “free and voluntary way to share COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test status in accordance with New York State guidelines.”
To gain entry to major stadiums, weddings, or other events above the social gathering limit, users can use Excelsior Pass. In a growing trend, some venues are now requesting proof of vaccination for entry. In New York state, vaccinated people can hold larger gatherings such as weddings.
Excelsior Pass is described as similar to a mobile airline boarding pass. In pass, individuals can either print out their pass or to store it in their smartphones using the app.
Every business or venue can scan the pass using the QR code via a companion app. It will verify the COVID-19 negative results or proof of vaccination. Madison Square Garden in New York City and the Time Union Center in Albany will try the app first.
Steve LaFleche, the General Manager of IBM Public and Federal Markets, said in an official announcement that: “IBM is proud to support the State of New York with its efforts to apply innovative technologies to help residents and communities respond to COVID-19.”
IBM Digital Health Pass is a secure verification system built on blockchain technology. Blockchain technology makes it possible to verify people’s health status within certain criteria. The criteria includes test results, vaccination records, and temperature checks.
Andrew Cuomo seems to hope that the Excelsior Pass can help New Yorkers return to ‘normal’ life keeping safety measures. “The question of public health or the economy has always been a false choice — the answer must be both,” Cuomo said in an official statement.
“As more New Yorkers get vaccinated each day and as key public health metrics continue to regularly reach their lowest rates in months, the first-in-the-nation Excelsior Pass heralds the next step in our thoughtful, science-based reopening.”
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After vaccination, people will receive a verifiable health credential stored in a digital wallet on their smartphones. People can share it using the Digital Health Pass. That enables people to control whom they share their data with, protecting their privacy.
From the recently developed blockchain applications, Covid-19 health certificates is one of the most popular applications. With most health certificate applications, the health provider and the individual can directly communicate the data. Blockchain technology makes sure that the health provider issued the certificate for that specific person, rather than being copied.
The Excelsior Pass Wallet app (for individual New Yorkers) is available for Android and iOS. The Excelsior Pass Scanner app (for interested businesses) is available for Android and iOS.
