Blockchain holds the key to a globally trusted coronavirus vaccine passport

"The idea of a vaccine passport was the reason I first got into the blockchain space back in 2014. The initial vision of how it could utilize blockchain technology was a pipe dream at a time when there was no need for it," says Andrew Weil.

More than 4 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. Some governments have opted to implement novel technologies to support contact tracing and keeping immunization records. Some governments have implemented new technologies such as blockchain technology to keep track of people's contact information while others have chosen to use the traditional method of paper records.

Amid a growing market of fake vaccine certificates, Travel Pass, Digital Covid Certificate, increasingly aggressive variants, underpinning blockchain. Singapore's Digital Health Passport initiative stores Covid-19 discharge memos, swab test results and vaccination records in a single, secure digital wallet. Smart contracts, pre-encoded with specific terms and guidelines, can be used to process vaccination records for the first time.

Around 1 billion people worldwide still lack formal proof of identity, limiting their access to essential services. The implementation of vaccine passports could be a critical first step in improving identification systems, says Dr. Jodie O'Mara-Gill. South Korea's mobile app for contact tracing can serve as a model for a successful pairing of mobile-enabled digital identity.

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