Considering the Merits of a COVID-19 Vaccine Credential

by The Tech Executive Leadership Initiative Winter 2021 Cohort

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As part of their 10-week technology policy training program, the leaders of the Tech Executive Leadership Initiative spent 6 weeks working on real-world government challenges. Three teams tackled the following prompt:

As more people across the country receive COVID-19 vaccines, there is a growing interest from businesses, schools, and other entities in a mechanism to confirm individuals’ vaccination status before they access areas and services. Groups have proposed a variety of solutions, from digital versions of physical vaccine cards administered by healthcare organizations or private entities to government-issued “health passports.” State-managed digital vaccine credential systems bring up a myriad of privacy, security, ethical questions. Should states create digital vaccine credentials given the widespread implications of doing so?

Click below to view a sample of the outputs each team created.

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A Federal Vaccine Credential

Advocating for standardized federal guidance on vaccine credentials
by Elizabeth Nash, Ladan Nasserian, Brian Sager, and Tony Sebro

This project suggests that the federal government establish technical and equity standards for all vaccine credentials developed by the public and private sectors. Instead of the having State of Outdoorsville invest resources in research and development of a standalone Outdoorsville credential, it should advocate for federal standards.

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Equitable Access Roadmap for Digital Vaccine Records

Enabling equitable access to digital vaccine data for all on- and off-line state residents
by Jason Botts, Rebecca Gasser, Enrique Jenkins, Cecilia Marihart, and Gene Yoon

This project proposes that Outdoorsville enable access to COVID-19 vaccine records through the its existing Immunization Information System (IIS) on multiple, convenient platforms. Outdoorsville should develop a new OpenAPI framework to enable existing digital services, such as the state’s myOutdoorsville digital identification app and the state website, to display vaccination records from the IIS database.

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Whether and How to Develop a COVID-19 Vaccine Credential

Helping Outdoorsville increase confidence as citizens get back to events, work, and school
by Anjali Joshi, Phil Marshall, Ratna Saripalli, Jeremy Toeman, and Nevin Zimmermann

This project proposes a clear framework to facilitate the State of Outdoorsville’s decisionmaking about a state COVID-19 vaccine credential. The proposed framework helps the State determine whether it has sufficient demand and the technical capacity to execute a functional and equitable credential.