Starting today, vaccinated residents of Massachusetts can access a digital coronavirus vaccine passport, including a scannable Quick Response code, that they can use at businesses in places that require people be vaccinated to enter.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s administration is rolling out the “COVID-19 SMART Health Care” on Monday, January 10, ahead of Boston’s vaccine passport mandate taking effect on Saturday, January 15. The city will require proof of at least one dose of coronavirus vaccination to enter all restaurants, gyms, and entertainment venues. It’s the only community in Massachusetts with a mandate in effect, but private businesses can mandate proof of vaccination elsewhere.
A person can access his proof of vaccination at www.myvaxrecords.mass.gov. To get it, one must enter a name, date of birth, and either an email address or cell phone number. The system will then show the person’s immunization record by accessing data from the Massachusetts Immunization Information System. This data includes their complete vaccination history, not just the coronavirus vaccine.
The site lets users take a screenshot or add their COVID-19 SMART Health Card to their Apple wallet or non-iPhone application equivalent with a Quick Response code — widely known as a QR code. The QR code will feature the user’s name, date of birth, and just their COVID-19 vaccination history — not the other vaccination history. It will also verify that the information came from the state.
People who got their shots outside of Massachusetts can contact their respective health care provider and ask that company to upload their vaccination status into the Massachusetts system so they have digital access to their coronavirus vaccine records. Additionally, the state recommends doing the same if people cannot access their records even if they get their vaccine in-state.
As of Friday, January 7, more than 5.1 million Bay State residents were fully vaccinated with at least two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines or one dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported. Additionally, 796,035 people had received their first dose of one of the two-dose vaccines.
A little less than 7 million people live in Massachusetts. So a little less than 2 million people who live in the state have not been vaccinated.
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, and Retailers Association of Massachusetts have come out against the vaccine mandate.
“Rather than one-size-fits-all, government-imposed mandates, we must return to economic normalcy by recognizing that personal responsibility and appropriate choices by individuals, employers, employees, and consumers represent the long-term path forward,” the three groups said in a statement last week.
The Baker administration said that if businesses want to use the state’s vaccine database, they can download the SMART Health Care verifier app and scan customers’ QR codes.
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