Retail chain Walmart has announced it will make vaccination records available digitally for those individuals who received shots at Walmart or Sam’s Club.
For the initiative, Walmart will use the open, interoperable SMART Health Cards standard being developed under the Vaccination Credential Initiative, co-chaired by The Commons Project Foundation (TCP). Earlier this year, the initiative was formed, with the idea to empower individuals with digital access to their vaccination records based on open, interoperable standards.
Noting that the current vaccination record system does not readily support convenient access, control and sharing of verifiable vaccination records, the VCI coalition members have been working to enable digital access to vaccination records using the open, interoperable SMART Health Cards specification, based on W3C Verifiable Credential and HL7 FHIR standards.
VCI’s vision is to empower individuals to obtain an encrypted digital copy of their immunization credentials to store in a digital wallet of their choice. Those without smartphones could receive paper printed with QR codes containing W3C-verifiable credentials.
According to Walmart officials, “Having convenient, safe, frictionless access to health records will be available to customers vaccinated at Walmart and Sam’s Club, including their vaccination records, through the Health Pass by CLEAR app and TCP’s CommonHealth and CommonPass apps. These platforms are free to users who choose to use them in order to verify their vaccine status to safely return to travel, work, school, sports events, entertainment and other venues while protecting their health data privacy,” they added.
Indeed, Health Pass by CLEAR is a free mobile experience within the CLEAR app, which connects a person's verified identity to multiple layers of COVID-19 related health information, with the aim to “reduce public health risk and make it possible for people to return to what they love,” officials said. More than 50 organizations are currently using Health Pass, and with Walmart, Health Pass users will soon be able to link to and use their vaccination results.
To enable this technology, Walmart and Sam’s Club have created systems that will allow vaccine status to be stored within the company’s proprietary apps and also interface with secure third-party apps, said officials.
Through a free digital account at Walmart and Sam’s Club, customers will have access to their prescription history and other healthcare data from Walmart. This information can also be provided in paper form at their local Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacy.
The first step is to schedule an appointment on the Walmart or Sam’s Club app to receive a vaccination. If a person chooses, they can also download the CLEAR, CommonHealth or CommonPass app, create an account and join their services for free as well. Individuals then sign into their Walmart or Sam’s Club account and agree to share their vaccination history with the verification app they have chosen. After that, users authenticate their vaccine status with Walmart or Sam’s Club account credentials in the verification app they’ve chosen. CLEAR, CommonHealth and CommonPass apps can be downloaded now and will soon be able to validate Walmart vaccine credentials in real-time at locations.
“Our goal is to give customers vaccinated at Walmart free and secure digital access to their vaccine record and enable them to share that information with third parties seeking to confirm their vaccination status,” said John Furner, CEO and President, Walmart U.S. “We are proud to be the first retailer to strategically partner with both The Commons Project Foundation and CLEAR, and we look forward to working with them to empower people with digital access to their vaccination records so they can use them whenever and however they choose.”
