A scoping review of global vaccine certificate solutions for COVID-19

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart.

Table 1. Characteristics of the articles

Article Type	n	Percentage (%)
Research paper	7	10.0
News article	25	35.7
Opinion/editorial	29	41.4
Company website	3	4.3
Blog	2	2.9
Other (event description, guidelines, concept paper etc.)	4	5.7
Pre-identified themes
Travel	21	30
Ethics	22	31
Technology	41	58.5
Legal concerns	10	14
Public policy	9	13
Scientific concerns	1	1.5
Sub Themes
Reopening of economy	12	17
Data security	9	13
Transmission control	3	4.3
Inequities	3	4.3

Table 2. Digital solutions for COVID-19 vaccine certificates

Product name	Company name	Objective	Product operation	Product Stage	Technology	Data privacy	Data security
Vaccify^Citation16,Citation17	TrustNet Pakistan	To support safe travel, return to work and aid hospitals to evaluate which staff/visitors are allowed into certain locations of the hospitals.	Users will be issued a vaccination certificate by the hospital/healthcare organization that administered the vaccine. The vaccine certificate (VC) shows up as a QR code on the users Vaccify app that can be scanned by officials (e.g., employers, border agents).	Demo	Decentralized block chain – (1) Uses the “Hyperledger INDY,” “Hyperledger ARIES,” and “VON” (Verifiable Organizations Network) blockchain. (2) Verifiable Digital Credential Technology (VDCT) preserves privacy	QR code identifies whether the user has a vaccine certificate or a positive /negative PCR/antibody test.	1) App is accessible through biometrics or a passcode. 2) Aligns with world wide web consortium (W3C) standards. 3) Certificate can be issued (or revoked) rapidly, thus, potential for fraud is mitigated.
CommonPass^Citation18–20	The Commons Project	To support safe travel.	The app will assess whether the user’s lab test results or vaccination records (a) come from a trusted source, and (b) satisfy the health screening requirements of the country they want to enter.	In trials by United Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways	Block chain – no detail provided	CommonPass provides a yes/no answer to whether the user meets the current border entry criteria. QR code is generated that can be scanned by airline officials. Underlying health information remains in the users control.	Uses open, globally interoperable standards (e.g., HL7 FHIR, W3C verifiable credentials).
QDX HealthID Immunization Passports^Citation21	Quantum Materials Corp	Supporting return to work, social settings and society during COVID-19 pandemic.	App-based interface that provides a green, yellow or red indicator, and a scannable QR code. Green indicates the user is virus free and safe to return to work/socialize to some degree. Hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud and can integrate with existing EMR system.	Beta testing	Block chain – Based on the Hyperledger Sawtooth enterprise blockchain	Verifiers of user’s VC scan the QR code. Personal information stays with the user except evidence of VC.	Implements distributed ledger applications via Digital Asset Modeling Language (DAML) which decreases fraud risk.
Covi-Pass^Citation22	Tento Health	Supporting return to work, social settings, and society during COVID-19.	Considered in 15 countries including France, Canada and India. Currently, it only supports COVID-19 test results but there is a plan to expand the app to include VC.	Available for download on the iOS and Android stores	Block chain – no detail provided	Verifiers of VC will scan the QR code which indicates presence/absence of VC. Personal information stays with the user. App is password-protected.	Not available
DigiLocker^Citation23–25	Government of India	Supporting return to work, social settings, and society during the COVID-19 pandemic.	A government platform for issuing and verifying documents and VC digitally. For dual-dosage vaccines, people are issued a provisional certificate. The full certificate will be issued after both doses, with dates of administration and vaccine information. Certificates are stored in DigiLocker.	Available for download on the iOS and Android stores	Block chain – no detail provided	Verifiers of the VC scan the QR code indicating presence or absence of VC and date and details of the vaccination. Personal information remains with the user.	Not available
Digital Health Pass^Citation26	IBM	Supporting return to work, social settings, and society during COVID-19 pandemic.	Supports COVID-19 test results and vaccination records.*	Demo	IBM Blockchain technology	Health Pass would be stored in digital wallet of the user. User has control over what health data they wish to share.	Not available
WIShelter SafePass^Citation27–29	WISeKey International Holding	Supporting return to work, social settings, and society during COVID-19 pandemic.	VC on WIShelter SafePass which ensures users’ privacy, security and safety while providing access to diagnostics, vaccine education and necessary medical services and data.	Not yet available at time of review Now available for download on the iOS and Android stores**	Block chain – no detail provided	To ensure data privacy, each user’s Personal Identifiable Information is kept encrypted and only disclosed with user’s consent.	WISeID implements standards such as OpenID Connect and OAUTH2, which enhances the security of their cloud applications.
VaccineGuard^Citation30,Citation31	Guardtime, OpenHealth, SIPCA, WHO	To capture and protect proof of critical data accuracy, facilitate privacy-preserving global certificate verification, and provide real-time insights on vaccination deployments for public health authorities.	It will provide proof of critical data accuracy, deliver automated aggregated reports from vaccination sites, automated monitoring of stock and vaccinations, and provide the ability to facilitate adverse effect reporting, supporting investigations around this more quickly.	In pilot stage with Estonia, Iceland, and Hungary	Blockchain – Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI)	Embedded decentralized privacy.	No data is registered into the KSI Blockchain itself – only hashes of data, any data movement is between known hosts in a point-to-point fashion using secure transport.

VC: Vaccination certificate

VDCT: Verifiable Digital Credential Technology

W3C: World wide web consortium

FHIR: Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources

EMR: Electronic Medical Record

*: As of June 2021, Digital Health Pass shows proof of vaccine

**: As of June 2021, WIShelter SafePass app is now available for use

Table 3. Approach of countries toward a vaccine certificate for COVID-19

Country	Government issuing immunization passport?	Vaccine certificate details
Estonia^Citation30,Citation31	Implemented	VaccineGuard developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization and Guardtime (See Table 2)
Denmark^Citation37,Citation38	Implemented	Has launched its own Corona passport (coronapas). The passport is being used to lift the restrictions and re-open the economy. Users are required to have a negative test result within the previous 72 hours, a VC or proof of infection within the last 2 to 12 weeks
USA^Citation39,Citation40	Not considering it	USA does not have plans to develop a national vaccine certificate although some states like New York are issuing Excelsior Pass to those who get vaccinated.
UK^Citation41	Implemented	NHS app to be used for travel
Pakistan^Citation16,Citation17	Under consideration	Vaccify by Trust Net Pakistan (See Table 2)
India^Citation23–25	Implemented*	DigiLocker – A government platform for issuing and verifying documents and vaccine certificate digitally (See Table 2) India is also using CoWIN and Aarogya Setu App to download the VC
Russia^Citation42,Citation43	Under consideration	Covid passports would possibly be in a digital form
Finland^Citation44,Citation45	Plans to implement	The vaccine certificate would be available on “My Kanta” which is a nation-wide service platform for accessing health records. It will be available for use at the end of May 2021
Indonesia^Citation46	Under consideration	There are several processes that must be passed for Indonesia’s national agency BPJPH to issue a halal certificate: application, examination, determination, testing, checking, fatwa, and finally the issuance of the certificate
Australia^Citation47	Plans to implement	It will allow people to access digital proof of vaccination via the Express Plus Medicare app and MyGov accounts. Approval is expected by March 2021 A paper form will also be available through Services Australia or through the vaccine provider
Italy^Citation48,Citation49	Plans to implement	Will use EU’s Green pass. More details will be released end of June 2021
Sweden^Citation37,Citation50	Plans to implement	Will use EU’s Green pass
Canada**^Citation51,Citation52	Under consideration	Details are not yet released
Switzerland^Citation53,Citation54	Plans to implement	Details will be released by the end of May 2021
Spain**^Citation55,Citation56	Plans to implement	Spain will develop their own vaccine certificate, releasing details end of June 2021 which will work in tandem with the EU Green pass
Israel**^Citation57	Implemented	Green pass provides both digital and downloadable paper certificates. It shows whether the user is vaccinated and/or has a recent negative test
EU Commission**^Citation58,Citation59	Plans to implement	Officially introducing Digital Green Certificate which will be available in both digital and paper format. Vaccine certificate will show details of inoculation and brand used, negative test certificates, and medical certificates for people who have recovered from COVID-19 in the last 180 days. Intended for travel between all EU countries. Plans to become available from July 1, 2021

*As of June 2021, India has implemented the VC solution.

**Additional search identified the use or consideration of vaccine certificates. At this time, we do not have sufficient data about the EU countries that are in support of the EU commission’s decision to implement vaccine certificates.

“Under consideration” refers to the state of exploring and deciding, “plans to implement” refers to the state that the product will be released soon, and “implemented” refers to the product available for the people to use.

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