South Korea’s Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun has announced that the country will soon introduce blockchain-powered vaccine passports. These will be available via a smartphone app later this month.
South Korea is among the countries introducing vaccine certificates that’ll enable cross-border travel and mitigation for risk of infection.
He said that the introduction of a vaccine passport or ‘Green Pass’ will “only allow those who have been vaccinated to experience the recovery to their daily lives.”
Taking help of the blockchain technology, The government has developed an app to provide protection against the possibility of identity theft.
The country has vaccinated 77,000 people against COVID-19 so far and expects the number to reach 12 million by June this year.
Brazil is also using a blockchain-based system called the National Health Data network which keeps tabs on anyone receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. This system reportedly allows for a greater case and vaccine tracking, data efficiency, and clarity. It’ll also keep track of the patient’s other treatments and medications received.
IBM is helping New York with the Excelsior Pass, which will use blockchain technology to confirm an individual’s vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test through “confidential data transfer.” Blockchain plays an important role in ensuring user data remains private when shared with organizations that require a verified health pass.
Although Vaccine passports have their fair share of benefits, they still remain highly controversial in the crypto communities. Recently, The Republican Governor of South Dakota, Krist Noem considered the concept “one of the most un-American ideas in the nation’s history.”
BBC has recently covered a story that COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine passports can be seen on the darknet in the form of forged documents, vaccination cards, etcetera which are sold and paid through cryptocurrencies making it hard to trace.