canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2022-01-17 11:23 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2022-01-17 11:23 pm
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Which States Have Covid Vaccine Apps?
Today I was chatting elsenet with a few friends in the EU about vaccinations. One of them shared an image of his digital vaccine card and remarked how easy it was that his recent booster shot just showed up in it automatically. It reminded me of a conversation a few months ago with an EU citizen executive in my company who talked about the similar ease with which he tracks not just vaccinations also but negative test records for all the travel between countries he does as part of his job. Here in the US my digital vaccine passport works well, too... but only to a point. While my booster shot appeared automatically in it, also, the problem is.... nearly every state has a different system.
Today I looked up how many different systems there are. The most recent article I found was from about a month ago, "Does My State Have A Covid-19 Vaccine App?" by PC Magazine (3 Dec 2021). A read through the article showed that there are about 17 different vaccine apps used by various states. 15 of them are unique; 1 is shared by 2 states, and 1 is shared by 4 or 5. It's not clear if the few states with common apps actually share data or just happen to have the same UI but disparate databases. I suspect the latter. That also leaves more than half the states with no simple electronic records available to residents. In some of those states the governors have simply refused. In several the state legislatures have passed laws, which the governors have signed, making it illegal to have a vaccine records app.
What's the impact of not having a consistent, easy to use system? Well, for one, it a major impediment to putting vaccination or testing requirements around high risk activities like traveling via airplanes, attending indoors concerts and sporting events, and even eating at restaurants. Covid-positive people there could turn them into super-spreader events. Of course, stopping vaccination requirements is the point of the bans all these Republican controlled legislatures have created.
The completely inconsistency between states makes also it harder even for states, localities, and private businesses that do choose to set vaccination requirements. For example, when we visited Hawaii several weeks ago, we had to bring our paper vaccination cards 2,500 miles overseas with us to show as proof upon arrival. State officials would not accept California's electronic record as proof. Hawaii has its own state level system... which is only for state residents. Even locally in California, businesses I've spoken to that require proof of vaccination don't know about California's app. Everyone feels the best way to check is to ask for paper cards... which sounds like stories my dad used to tell me from the 1950s about his and his buddies being required to carry around their draft cards.
Today I looked up how many different systems there are. The most recent article I found was from about a month ago, "Does My State Have A Covid-19 Vaccine App?" by PC Magazine (3 Dec 2021). A read through the article showed that there are about 17 different vaccine apps used by various states. 15 of them are unique; 1 is shared by 2 states, and 1 is shared by 4 or 5. It's not clear if the few states with common apps actually share data or just happen to have the same UI but disparate databases. I suspect the latter. That also leaves more than half the states with no simple electronic records available to residents. In some of those states the governors have simply refused. In several the state legislatures have passed laws, which the governors have signed, making it illegal to have a vaccine records app.
What's the impact of not having a consistent, easy to use system? Well, for one, it a major impediment to putting vaccination or testing requirements around high risk activities like traveling via airplanes, attending indoors concerts and sporting events, and even eating at restaurants. Covid-positive people there could turn them into super-spreader events. Of course, stopping vaccination requirements is the point of the bans all these Republican controlled legislatures have created.
The completely inconsistency between states makes also it harder even for states, localities, and private businesses that do choose to set vaccination requirements. For example, when we visited Hawaii several weeks ago, we had to bring our paper vaccination cards 2,500 miles overseas with us to show as proof upon arrival. State officials would not accept California's electronic record as proof. Hawaii has its own state level system... which is only for state residents. Even locally in California, businesses I've spoken to that require proof of vaccination don't know about California's app. Everyone feels the best way to check is to ask for paper cards... which sounds like stories my dad used to tell me from the 1950s about his and his buddies being required to carry around their draft cards.
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I receive the proof of vaccination as a PDF, so I can print it myself or show it on my phone. I also have a little vaccination card on paper, but no-one uses them, and I forgot it for my booster shot anyway. I doubt those are standardised.
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