Is This How A Vaccine Passport Will Look?

THERE is a good chance anyone wanting to leave the UK to play chess abroad will need to show proof of having been twice vaccinated against covid.

But what will a so-called vaccine passport look like, and when can people get one?

Well, it is quite possible that such a passport already exists, in the shape of two apps that can be downloaded to a smartphone so you can access your medical record, including your history of vaccinations.

Joe Skielnik alerted me to the existence of one such app, known as the NHS app, which should not be confused with the entirely separate NHS covid trace-and-test app.

The NHS app

There is also the Patient Access app, which similarly allows you to display your medical record, including vaccinations.

 

Patient Access app

Both require you to contact your GP surgery to get a "linkage key" and "account id," and the NHS app also requires you to upload photo id in the shape of, for example, the relevant page from your UK passport.

But, while it is a little fiddly, it can be done relatively smoothly, with the whole process taking less than a week.

I can now show anyone proof that on 28 February 2021 I received Administration of first dose of SARS-Cov-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) vaccine.

This may not be generally accepted as a vaccine passport right now, but I suspect something very much like it will be in the not-so-distant future.