NEW YORK– VCI, a voluntary coalition of public and private organizations, will host a Global Forum on SMART Health Cards this week following a nationwide effort to empower more than 150 million Americans to safely store and share their COVID-19 vaccination record in a privacy-preserving and equitable way.
The forum will gather senior leaders from government, healthcare, tech and travel companies, such as Apple, Cerner, Microsoft and United Airlines, to provide a deeper look at how communities are using the SMART Health Cards Framework to safely reopen, a topic that’s been top of mind as people resume day-to-day activities like getting back to work and school, attending events, eating out, visiting retirement communities, and more.
“Thanks to the incredible collaboration across private and public sectors, SMART Health Cards have emerged as the de facto standard in the U.S. for verifying COVID-19 vaccination status, and are now rolling in other countries like Canada,” said Dr. Robert Wah, U.S. Board Chair of the Commons Project Foundation, a co-chair of VCI. “More than 150 million people can now download or print their SMART Health Card as a QR code to manage and share their vaccination record. We envision a future where that same convenience and utility could empower individuals to select and elect to share other parts of their health history as well.”
“VCI’s aim is to empower individuals with the ability to safely and conveniently tell their own health story as they see fit,” said Dr. Brian Anderson, chief digital health physician at MITRE, a co-chair of VCI. “We’re deeply appreciative of all the stakeholders in the SMART Health Cards ecosystem – from mobile device manufacturers to public health authorities – that are collaborating in real-time to expand availability and usage in the United States and abroad.”
The Global Forum will also address how stakeholders are using SMART Health Cards as an alternative to other options, including paper CDC cards, to confidently verify that any records are valid and from a reputable issuer. SMART Health Cards, developed by VCI, officially began rolling out to vaccinated individuals this summer and are currently being issued by numerous trusted healthcare entities, including pharmacies, healthcare providers, and statewide public health agencies.
“In early July, less than two weeks after launching our statewide digital vaccination records portal, we had delivered more than 1 million SMART Health Cards to California residents,” said Rick Klau, Chief Technology Innovation Officer for the State of California. “In late October, we hit the 7 million milestone, with more SMART Health Cards downloads every day. I am honored to be partnering with VCI to help our state reopen safely.”
