Cerna, Mayo Clinic, Other Big Names Finally Jump On the COVID Passport Bandwagon

In November 2020, the Patent Forecast® honed in on Global e-dentity and their efforts to create a U.I.D., a form of identification that could be used to grant or deny access to areas based on whether an individual has COVID-19. The Patent Forecast went on to highlight the company as a potential acquisition target for Leidos or IDEMIA. The demand for a system like the U.I.D. only seems to be increasing in light of recent events.

The Vaccination Credential Initiative (or VCI) was formed in 2021 and is dedicated to allowing individuals to have access to their vaccination records for two purposes: 1. For the benefit of their own health and safety, and 2. To demonstrate their health status to their home, school, or other areas. This second goal looks like a variation of the system developed by Global e-dentity. Rather than looking at whether an individual has an active form of the virus, the VCI would allow employers or business owners to ensure everyone within a building is vaccinated to avoid potential exposure. While the VCI currently plans to undergo this method with health records, it’s worth investigating whether the system developed by Global e-dentity could be adapted to allow for a more direct investigation into whether individuals entering an area have sufficient antibodies against COVID-19. The VCI includes major partners from the healthcare and technology sectors, such as Cerner, the Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle. As this program continues to attract major wealthy players, it would seem foolish for companies to ignore the developers of technology to push the program to the next level. 

For more developments regarding COVID-19 and the technological infrastructure built to fight it, check out our free Patent Forecast® for Pandemics.