California launches digital Covid vax portal

San Francisco : California has launched a digital platform through which the state's residents can access their Covid-19 vaccination records.

The online system, called Digital Covid-19 Vaccine Record portal, means a digital backup to the paper cards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that Americans receive when they get inoculated, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The portal provides only a digital copy of your vaccine record, myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov, an official website to provide the digital certification read, 'It is one of the options to show proof of vaccination. The State will not be implementing a mandatory passport system in California'."

Xinhua tried the system by founding a user with entering his name, date of birth, an email address or mobile phone number associated with the vaccination record.

The digital record shows the same information as the paper CDC vaccine card: Name, date of birth, date of vaccination and vaccine manufacturer.

It also includes a QR code that makes the same details readable by a QR scanner.

"Once the digital record is received, individuals are encouraged to screenshot the information and save it to their phone files or camera roll," the state health department said in a statement on Friday.

Neither the state public health authority nor California Governor Gavin Newsom avoided calling the digital records as vaccine passports.

Vaccine passport bans supporters said the rules, championed mostly by Republicans, protect individuals' privacy and promote economic recovery, while opponents argued the rules could harm public health and make a return to normalcy difficult for society when it tried to avoid Covid-19 outbreaks.

Three states of New York, Hawaii, and Oregon have exempted fully vaccinated individuals from some restrictions if they can provide proof of vaccination.

The administration has said the federal government would not mandate vaccines or set up a national credential system.