Walmart is one of our nation's largest retail operators, and they are currently at the forefront in distributing vaccines for the coronavirus. Right now they are offering vaccinations to customers at 1,400 locations in 35 states across the country, and more locations could be on the horizon. They were the first grocery store chain to begin administering the vaccines in their pharmacies, and have since expanded to parking lots, and even at off-site locations.

And one of the things Walmart wants to do is make it easier for customers to show that they have been vaccinated. The mega-retailer is partnering up with companies to offer a digital version of a vaccine card that can be pulled up on your smartphone. According to the folks at Eat This, Not That, via The New York Times, other major tech and health companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Cerner, Epic Systems, the Mitre Corporation, and the Mayo Clinic have already signed on to push for the service.

The digital vaccination credentials can possibly be used to access airline flights, sports games, concerts, and even schools. I've talked to a lot of friends recently who think it's possible that you won't be able to get into any event in the future without proving that you've received the vaccine. Either way, it will be much easier to pull up the information on your phone than it would be to keep track of the paper cards that are currently being used.

Paul Meyer, the CEO of the Commons Project Foundation, which has launched a similar campaign in Switzerland for health passport apps told The New York Times “Walmart is the first huge-scale administrator of vaccines that is committing to giving people a secure, verifiable record of their vaccinations. We think many others will follow.”

 

 

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