Releasing our Digital Vaccine Record code on GitHub
September 10, 2021 – Soon after we launched the Digital Vaccine Record portal in June, our friends at the Colorado Digital Service asked if we’d be willing to share our code with other states. Shortly after that, several other states reached out with similar requests. I’m excited to share that my office has released the code for both the front end and the middle tier for California’s Digital Vaccine Record to the public domain on GitHub. Any other state that is interested in deploying a digital vaccine record system should be able to use our free code to connect their own immunization registry back end and launch a similar portal to California’s.
In June 2021, California and Louisiana were the only two states supporting the SMART Health Cards framework. New York delivered an upgrade to its Excelsior Pass in July that gave every vaccinated New York resident access to a SMART Health Card, and earlier this week, Hawaii announced that they are now issuing SMART Health Cards for vaccinated Hawaiians. In addition, anyone vaccinated at a CVS pharmacy, a Walmart or Sams Club Pharmacy, or any health system that uses Epic or Cerner as their electronic health record system now has access to a SMART Health Card.
As more states implement a system similar to what is available in California, Louisiana, New York and Hawaii, a growing number of Americans will have access to a digital vaccination record that can be used anywhere digital records are issued and accepted. This is convenient for residents and tourists who no longer need to carry their CDC card. It also standardizes the process for businesses and employers who want to verify vaccination records.
