Los Angeles Vaccine Recipients Can Put the Proof in Apple Wallet

[danieltien]

Summary

As vaccinations start rolling out, verification of one's immunization status is going to be key in restarting areas of the economy stalled out by the extensive COVID-19 safety measures. Having a ready record of receiving the full vaccine is a lot more convenient than waiting 48-72 hours for a negative PCR test result. Many employers are considering whether to make proof of immunization mandatory once their employee priority group has access to the vaccine. There are, however, a significant proportion of the population hesitant to receive the vaccine, and a subset that is adamantly opposed.

 

 

Quotes

Quote

Covid-19 vaccine recipients in Los Angeles County, a major virus hot spot, will be offered a digital record that will help ensure they get a second shot and could, eventually, be used to gain access to concert venues or airline flights.

 

The offering is being provided starting this week through a partnership with the startup Healthvana. It’s initially geared toward ensuring people receive both doses of the two-shot regimens that have been authorized in the U.S., including through follow-up notifications before a second appointment.

 

It will also give recipients a way to verify they have been vaccinated, which they can put into an Apple Wallet or competing Google platform “to prove to airlines, to prove to schools, to prove to whoever needs it,” said Healthvana Chief Executive Officer Ramin Bastani.

 

My thoughts

Currently, the status quo for vaccine recipients is a paper wallet card distributed by the CDC, where the brand and date of the primary and booster shots are recorded. These have no anti-counterfeit measures and there's already rumblings in the anti-vaccination community about producing fake ones. (Anti-maskers were producing fake cards certifying that the holder was exempt from wearing masks) A digital passport with instant verification is a possible viable solution, and is being tested in Los Angeles County (pop. 10 million). Obviously there are the issues regarding data security of health information, but Apple seems to be well-prepared for that, having a secure wallet system in iOS--even designing their health app/tracking subsystems such that no biometrics or identifiable information leaves the phone (or watch).

 

Sources

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-28/los-angeles-vaccine-recipients-can-put-the-proof-in-apple-wallet

[JLO64]

As someone who lives in LA this could be an interesting tool but I honestly don't think it would be a good idea to either force its usage or attempt to implement it city-wide(by itself). Especially on a forum like this, I think people underestimate just how many people  don’t have access to smartphones with data in the general population or just don't know that much about how to use "advanced" features on their phone. Just as a case in point, I have a senior friend who has an iPhone (with data) but who I can guarantee has no clue what Apple Wallet is (just the other day I introduced him to FaceTime and I'm pretty certain he still doesn’t know how to use it). Additionally, as a resident of LA I have very low confidence in practically any initiative set forth by our local government (just scroll through the LA subreddit).

 

All that being said, I think this is a great idea nonetheless but I just want to caution people from thinking that this will some sort of “silver bullet” solution. Other methods of identification will have to be developed in order to cover the entire population of (not just) LA.

[Orangeator]

What about those who own an Android based phone? 

[yolosnail]

8 minutes ago, Orangeator said:

What about those who own an Android based phone? 

I'd imagine they'd also make it compatible with G Pay

[unsorted]

26 minutes ago, beerdrunkmonk said:

nutty antivaxxers

I love being called nutty, especially after all the research I put into what goes into my body.

[PlayStation 2]

Truthfully, I'm a bit scared of the implications of tracking who's had a vaccine via your phone. Call me skeptical, call me a conspiracy theorist, call me whatever makes you feel better, but all I see going down that path is a really dystopian usage of that kind of system. 

It's that kind of forcefulness that, as a whole, has me pretty skeptical about the vaccine as a whole, but that's not exactly here nor there. Hopefully I'm wrong on all accounts, but I don't suspect that I will be wrong.

[Derangel]

36 minutes ago, unsorted said:

I love being called nutty, especially after all the research I put into what goes into my body.

Facebook doesn't count as research.

 

30 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

Truthfully, I'm a bit scared of the implications of tracking who's had a vaccine via your phone. Call me skeptical, call me a conspiracy theorist, call me whatever makes you feel better, but all I see going down that path is a really dystopian usage of that kind of system. 

It's that kind of forcefulness that, as a whole, has me pretty skeptical about the vaccine as a whole, but that's not exactly here nor there. Hopefully I'm wrong on all accounts, but I don't suspect that I will be wrong.

There are definitely concerns, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with mandatory vaccinations (with exceptions for the incredibly small group of people that can't get certain ones). For COVID they really do need something that can't easily be faked. I don't think an app on a phone is a great solution though. 

[unsorted]

Just now, Derangel said:

Facebook doesn't count as research.

 

 

Ho, ho, ho.

[PlayStation 2]

7 minutes ago, Derangel said:

There are definitely concerns, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with mandatory vaccinations (with exceptions for the incredibly small group of people that can't get certain ones). For COVID they really do need something that can't easily be faked. I don't think an app on a phone is a great solution though. 

Not even mandatory vaccinations (which is a whole 'nother debate entirely) but with the coronavirus vaccine specifically. I do have genuine concerns of if there's unknown effects, both short and long-term, from the vaccine. 

Although, really, I'm already pushing the boundaries of the rules here as it is (something I never follow otherwise), so I might be best served by stopping while I can.

[Derangel]

12 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

Not even mandatory vaccinations (which is a whole 'nother debate entirely) but with the coronavirus vaccine specifically. I do have genuine concerns of if there's unknown effects, both short and long-term, from the vaccine. 

Although, really, I'm already pushing the boundaries of the rules here as it is (something I never follow otherwise), so I might be best served by stopping while I can.

Concerns are valid here, but I think the fact that  certain politicians were first in line for It should speak to how confident they are in it being safe.

[handymanshandle]

as to try and carefully tight rope these

All I'm going to say is what some people have a concern with is per the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html

 

"New Approach to Vaccines

mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Not mRNA vaccines. Instead, they teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies."

 

One key take away that I think they included to try and alleviate some fears was this

"mRNA Vaccines Are New, But Not Unknown

Researchers have been studying and working with mRNA vaccines for decades."

Vaccines are regularly just weakened versions of the virus, this vaccine is not that and I that's what some people are concerned about is the longer term effects.

 

While it seems like they're just as safe as regular vaccines I just wished more people would be willing to understand why some people may have concerns about something that a.) that's being tried at scale for the first time and b.) that was made in a super short time

While I trust that it is safe, I just would like something more balanced because I think that's a better way of doing things generally.

[RejZoR]

The problem with this approach is fallacy that being vaccinated means you cannot be a carrier. Which simply isn't true. Being immune to a virus can still mean you can carry it for a short while after being exposed to it. Now, if they will only allow to board for example airplanes to everyone who have been vaccinated at least 1-2 weeks ago (it takes some time for vaccine to become effective), then sure. But if you mix and match people, it can still spread even via vaccinated people. It does slow it down a bit tho.

 

@pinksnowbirdie

mRNA is a quite predictable thing. Imagine it as executable computer code. When you feed certain information through mRNA, it'll predictably decode into a specific outcome or function. In this case, mRNA will tell our body to generate a certain harmless piece of code that resembles SARS-COV 2. As it's generated, our immune system responds to it.

 

I wonder if we'll have any say on which vaccine you want to get when it'll be our turn in my country. Given the weak efficacy of Astrazenica vaccine, I sure don't want to get theirs. In all honesty, I'd actually prefer the Pfizer's mRNA based one above all. It has really shown one of highest efficacy and very little side effects. People currently getting them only have Pfizer as it's the only approved in my country so far. But when it'll be our turn we're probably getting others too and that kinda sucks. I don't want to just get some random one...

[Taf the Ghost]

2 hours ago, Derangel said:

Concerns are valid here, but I think the fact that  certain politicians were first in line for It should speak to how confident they are in it being safe.

People that do things in front of cameras to fit political objectives are great showmen. The assumption they weren't being given saline shots for the cameras is quite interesting. For anyone with a public profile, they'd have likely given them the actual shot earlier and made sure there was no serious reactions, then done a saline shot for the photos. News Cameras are for theater; actual practice is done away from them.

 

Vaccines always produce negative responses (that's actually how they work), so for anyone in the Optics business you'd simply split the Optics and the Medicine.

[thorhammerz]

14 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

People that do things in front of cameras to fit political objectives are great showmen. The assumption they weren't being given saline shots for the cameras is quite interesting.

Are you inclined to believe that they actually "took their own medicine" (even if off-camera), as it were?

[Taf the Ghost]

2 minutes ago, thorhammerz said:

Are you inclined to believe that they actually "took their own medicine" (even if off-camera), as it were?

I'm sure they have access to the best information you won't get access to. That's the annoying part about Elites. Though it does need to be mentioned that in representative systems, politicians are functionally "disposable". JFK found that out the hard way.

 

Though if they really wanted to make it not look so much like a weird Orwellian Propaganda campaign, they really should have just publicly vaccinated the CEOs of the major Pharmaceutical companies. People are extremely responsive to "put your money where your mouth is". Would have really worked if they vaccinated several of their family members. (Though admitting they backdoor created the Anti-Vaxx movement via their massive advertising campaigns with major Media would probably help matters. Media companies getting >100million USD or more a year from Pharma companies sure loved to do the "look at these crazy people!, but please ignore we're basically making them headline news constantly for years". After 20 years, they've done great service to the idiom "where there's smoke, there's fire".)

[StDragon]

"Halt citizen! Papers please!"

 

Get with times man, it's on my finger. Code this

[StDragon]

I honestly believe that our passports are going to expand to cover a lot more medical and profile data that spans both the physical and cyberspace. It's creepy! It's an Orwellian singularity.

[Tristerin]

Wonder how much this data sells for?

[Commodus]

Can we get back on topic, please?

 

You're likely going to need proof of vaccination to patronize some businesses and attend some events for a while, so I'd say this is a good thing. I don't want to be cut off from public life just because a card got wrecked in the wash. Apple Wallet (and comparable mobile wallets) is secure, so it's really just about ensuring the rest of the pipeline is airtight.

[TetraSky]

23 minutes ago, Commodus said:

Can we get back on topic, please?

 

You're likely going to need proof of vaccination to patronize some businesses and attend some events for a while, so I'd say this is a good thing. I don't want to be cut off from public life just because a card got wrecked in the wash. Apple Wallet (and comparable mobile wallets) is secure, so it's really just about ensuring the rest of the pipeline is airtight.

Pretty much this.

Many events here have already said they will require vaccination proof for admission. Having it digital would be nice.

I wouldn't be surprised if schools also demanded vaccination for kids to come back to class, since they are the biggest contamination vector, all while having next to no symptoms. So a card so show you've been vaccinated is good.

Too bad I fully expect some people to make fake ones for anti vaxxers who just want to see the world burn. It's no wonder why measles is making such a comeback even though it was nearly exterminated. We have so much better access to information, yet it's also easier to be misinformed by liars and con artists who have an agenda to push.

 

 

Also, for potential anti vaxxer in this thread... Regardless of any symptoms you may get from a vaccine, it's still safer than getting the disease the vaccine is designed to prevent.

If you don't want to actually do proper research and only look up Karen on facebook posting things about "her experience" while promoting essential oils and other "natural" bs, just watch this video at least, which did all the proper research for you in a cute animated style, they've also posted all the credible sources (not just some blog)

 

[Spotty]

Thread moved to off topic and locked.

Tech News means news regarding technology or gaming. Please don't post topics in this forum that don't have a strong relation to technology/games.

 

This discussion is squarely focused on COVID-19 and the vaccination program, there is no scope for discussion on any technological advancements or news. The use of an app is not the focus of discussion and is not sufficient to meet the requirements of tech-based discussion.

As per the announcement any COVID-19 related discussion should be had in the COVID-19 thread in the off topic section.