In 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and sent the whole world into panic, the healthcare industry seemed to be greatly lacking when it came to vaccination measures. While it took only one year for the first emergency use of a vaccine to be approved, the healthcare management measures regarding COVID verification certificates, that followed later, highlighted key shortcomings of the industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic had the world in a spiraling depression for a good whole year until the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was first approved for emergency use on Dec 11, 2020. After strict lockdowns for months which started first in California on March 19th, the announcement of a vaccine getting pushed further through the pipeline was comforting to the public.
With gradually more vaccines getting approved, soon the lockdowns were lifted on certain conditions including that everyone would have to prove their COVID verification certificates whenever in public.
Why it became important to verify covid certificates
COVID verification certificates are crucial for proving a person’s vaccine status and ultimately, also health status.
For a very long time, vaccination verification has been a common rule for cross-country travel. Travelers from different countries are required to be vaccinated for different diseases. These diseases include but aren’t limited to measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and some STDS.
With COVID-19 infections were super common and controlling infection rates was of utmost priority which made the establishment of a system for COVID certificate verification and their authentication essential. At all restaurants, offices, parks, and other public areas to ensure checking for COVID verification certificates became mandated by the law.
Verification of the COVID verification certificates was deemed essential in consideration of the following reasons:
- COVID-19 vaccines were being given to the public free of cost. There needed to be a way to authenticate the citizens who had been vaccinated.
- Issuance of the COVID verification certificates was important to keep a track of vaccine data for research purposes.
- Different vaccines have different side effects. Vaccine certificates could help with tracking people vaccinated by a certain vaccine in case of any adverse reaction.
- An effective vaccine certificate verification process could help control the high infection rates as unvaccinated people were being forced to stay at home with the certificates acting as passports.
- By checking for the government-issued COVID verification certificate, businesses could protect themselves against the pandemic and also in lieu of the laws.
- Ultimately, effective COVID verification certificates and their authentication at all public places could help in fighting the pandemic and re-establishing normal life.
Coronavirus Certificate Verification – The hurdles
With the vaccination process being streamlined and carrying COVID verification certificates being mandated, the need for easy access to vaccine certificates for individuals arose. The fact that there was no regulated federal institution for effective vaccine certification and certificate issuance authority was one of the biggest shortcomings of the government’s healthcare management department that the pandemic exposed.
Immediately, work on setting up a regulated system for COVID Certificate Verification was started. Consequently, two structures were set up. These were VAMS or the Vaccine Administration Management System and VCI or the Vaccination Credential Initiative.
Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS)
VAMS was established in May 2020 as a wing under the Center for Disease Control (CDC). While VAMS was established to streamline the issuance process for COVID verification certificates for everyone, it was set up primarily to aid hospital networks and healthcare administrators in the issuance and management process rather than helping individuals access their certificates.
VAMS was, however, later disregarded by most owing to its lack of efficient services and failure to integrate with hospital setups.
Vaccination Credential Initiative or (VCI)
The Vaccination Credential Initiative was set up in January 2021. The VCI also provided vaccine COVID verification certificate data to both professionals and recipients, however, for VCI the primary goal was for the public to be able to access their certificates easily.
Users could simply register themselves on the website submitting their data, and the system would produce their cards which could be saved digitally or printed.
V-safe for health monitoring after COVID-19 vaccines
While accession of the verify covid certificate as soon as you get your vaccine dose has been made simple, allowing the public to return to a normal life, it is also important to monitor your health. V-safe is a CDC setup that allows individuals to monitor their own health after getting a vaccine dose.
Through regular check-ins and surveys via text messages, v-safe allows entire families to register and keep a track of their health. V-safe does not offer medical advice, however, it is crucial for helping CDC understand the vaccines’ health effects to tackle them effectively.
COVID verification certificates are an important measure to help fight the virus. Even today, the virus is evolving and new research is being carried out. As per the CDC, in the week leading up to March 15, 2023, the 7-day average of weekly new cases was 21,422. While it may seem like COVID-19 is long gone, current data reminds us that it is still important to carry out all the necessary precautions against SARS-CoV-2 every day. For businesses, this means utilizing effective services to verify the digital covid vaccine passports.
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