New York State launches the first Excelsior Pass Wallet app, a vaccine passport to prove a negative COVID test result

The country’s very first “vaccine passport” is going to the Big Apple. Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported the launch of Excelsior Pass on Friday. With Excelsior Pass, New York became the first state on Friday to launch a so-called vaccine passport.

To accelerate the state’s returning efforts, New York has divulged a new pass. It’s a path for individuals to introduce confirmation of a negative COVID test or a vaccination when going to bigger events like pro sports matches or concerts.

It’s known as the Excelsior Pass. Created with IBM, it permits clients to print a pass or keep that data on a safe cell phone app.

The program named the “Excelsior Pass,” is an app that will permit New Yorkers to demonstrate their vaccination status, or recent history of a negative COVID-19 test, to acquire section to events and businesses, Governor Cuomo declared in a news release Friday.

It is a free, voluntary platform that permits a person to give digital proof of being inoculated or affirm a new negative PCR COVID-19 test or antigen test result.

The new platform, created in association with IBM, will help fast-track the returning of businesses and event venues as per New York State Department of Health rules.

The app will not show any health data when scanned — it’ll possibly show a green checkmark if the individual has been inoculated or tested negatively or a red “x” if they haven’t.

Significant venues, like Madison Square Garden and the Times Union Center in Albany, will start using the app one week from now, and on April 2, Excelsior Pass will grow to “smaller arts, entertainment and event venues,” Cuomo’s office said.

The app, which launched Friday, as of now attempts to demonstrate vaccination status or negative test results and can be used to access wedding receptions, which currently require negative tests from participants and different events above the social gathering limit.

“New Yorkers have proven they can follow public health guidance to beat back COVID, and the innovative Excelsior Pass is another tool in our new toolbox to fight the virus while allowing more sectors of the economy to reopen safely and keeping personal information secure,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“The question of ‘public health or the economy has always been a false choice — the answer must be both. As more New Yorkers get vaccinated each day and as key public health metrics continue to regularly reach their lowest rates in months, the first-in-the-nation Excelsior Pass heralds the next step in our thoughtful, science-based reopening.”

The app, launched after two pilot demonstrations held in recent weeks, will utilize blockchain technology and encryption to guarantee the health data is stored securely.

Using the downloaded app with some personal information to affirm their identity, New Yorkers can prove with a digital QR code that they have been immunized. “The data will come from the state’s vaccine registry and also will be linked to testing data from several pre-approved testing companies,” according to USA Today.

The passport will be helpful to get into events and venues, and “already enables people to increase the size of a wedding party or other catered event.”

“As an organization, we’re really going to look forward to exploring with the app,” said Chautauqua Institution Interim Senior Vice President Deborah Sunya Moore Friday.

The app is like an airplane boarding pass, where individuals will either print out their pass or store it on their cell phones, utilizing the Excelsior Pass Wallet app.

Each pass has a unique QR code, where partaking businesses and venues can scan using a companion app to check evidence of COVID-19 negative test results or verification of vaccination yet the app is as yet in its infancy.

“It’s really too early to tell if this affects any of our timelines of course Chautauqua Institution is already planning to be open and the biggest question as we work with the state of New York is how to open can we be,” Sunya Moore added.

The Institution’s amphitheater and outdoor pavilion both plan on hosting concerts and outdoor theatre productions and could use the app for section yet a final decision has not been made.

One key barrier stays, the state can just confirm vaccinations or COVID tests finished in New York State which is something Sunya Moore trusts the state hopes to extend.

New York State is the first state in the United States to officially launch this kind of app. Two successful pilot demonstrations were held in recent weeks at MSG and the Barclay’s Center, alongside a beta test, where a large number of New Yorkers partook in a restricted rollout of the technology to give feedback on UI and results.

Other Western New York venues including Art Park and the National Comedy Center are likewise as yet sorting out whether they’ll utilize the app however are intrigued.

“We’re excited about the potential of the Excelsior app for National Comedy Center live events as well as private events hosted at our museum, but we are still learning how we can integrate it with our health and safety protocols,” a spokesperson for The National Comedy Center said in a statement.

“New Yorkers have proven they can follow public health guidance to beat back COVID, and the innovative Excelsior Pass is another tool in our new toolbox to fight the virus while allowing more sectors of the economy to reopen safely and keeping personal information secure,” Governor Cuomo said.

The signup process includes giving your vaccination or testing data, alongside your first and last name, date of birth, and zip code. The state at that point cross-references that data with state records and either issue or denies a pass.

There’s likewise a cell phone free version, where you can print out your pass at home and carry it to a venue.

A disclaimer expresses that the data gave can be utilized by third parties that are working with the state. HIPAA protection won’t apply also.

“The website is not provided to you by a health care provider, so, as such, you are not providing protected health information for health care treatment, payment, or operations (as defined under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).”

The pass will be utilized at entertainment venues and can consider expanded group sizes for events like weddings.

Different nations including Denmark have effectively started implementing their own vaccine passports.

The app for New York is being funded by the state and was based on IBM’s digital health pass platform, USA Today detailed.

The United States is inoculating 2 million individuals per day, and President Biden this week increased his objective to getting 200 million individuals at least their first dose within his initial 100 days.

It isn’t clear if immunization passports will be created around the country or accepted by numerous Americans, as some are as yet reluctant to get the Covid vaccine.

To sign up, New Yorkers can register by downloading the app and contributing personal data to verify their identity. The app will at that point pull information from the state’s vaccine registry and several pre-approved COVID-19 testing organizations.

You can download the Excelsior Pass Wallet app on Android and iOS.