OHA confirms it’s developing voluntary, optional vaccine verification phone app

Expected to be released next spring, after testing

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Oregon Health Authority confirmed Tuesday it is developing a voluntary and optional digital vaccine verification smartphone app, to provide Oregonians an electronic way to share their vaccination status with businesses that ask for proof of verification.

Oregonians asked to show proof of vaccination currently can share the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paper vaccination card, a photo of that card or an electronic record provided by a health care provider.

"The tool is meant to provide an electronic resource to people who do not have a health care provider  and is modeled after a similar tool that is in use in Washington and in California," OHA said in a statement provided to NewsChannel 21.

OHA said it is currently testing a model of its verification tool with communities disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 virus. The agency said it anticipates making its voluntary tool available for free for anyone in Oregon who chooses to use it in the spring of 2022.

Last week, during a media briefing on COVID-19, a reporter asked about OHA’s work on a “digital vaccine record.” OHA Director Patrick Allen said while many Oregonians with large health care providers can get a QR code to easily prove vaccination at large sporting events, for example, others don’t have such access, and that will be the goal of the digital record system now being developed.

Oregon does not require businesses to ask for customers' proof of COVID-19 vaccination, but many restaurants and bars in Portland have established their own requirements. Places like the Rose Quarter, which includes the Moda Center where the Portland Trail Blazers play, require proof of vaccination, where this optional tool may be a convenient option, KGW reported.