A new health credential authentication system called Immunitee Health Passport is set launch in Malaysia in March 2021.
It will be provided as an open-source system at no charge to governments and organisations around the world. Once launched, users will be able download the Immunitee app for free.
Immunitee Health Passport is based on an open source Blockchain vaccine registry management system (VRMS) from Immunitee, providing a low cost system to countries needing to role out mass vaccination programs.
With Immunitee Health Passport, it will allow consumers and authorities to:
- Facilitate clearance at border health checkpoints
- Ensure data protection and security through blockchain
- Verify the authenticity of Covid-19 tests and vaccines
Malaysia-based Immunitee said that it stores all patient data on a public blockchain system, ensuring that data cannot be “scraped”, is protected, and belongs to the user. Government authorities and other organisations including national healthcare systems, immigration systems, hotels, universities and schools can only access information by scanning a secure QR Code which contains all the relevant testing and vaccination information and can only be unlocked using a private “key” that belongs to the user. The authorities and other organisations have no other access to any confidential information and there is no location tracking, it claims.
Immunitee works with recognised laboratories to automatically store users’ test history on the blockchain and implements a secure vaccine tracking and tracing program to ensure that the vaccine is both authentic and has been stored at the right temperature. This verification is done within the Immunitee app where the vaccine is scanned by the user before it is administered. Only vaccines that have been registered and tracked on the Immunitee system can be given.
Immunitee’s clinical partner is Qualitas, one of the leading primary healthcare providers in Malaysia as well as across the Asia-Pacific region with a network of over 250 clinics. Immunitee also works with laboratory partners Clinipath and Gribbles, some of Malaysia’s most trusted providers of diagnostic laboratory services.
Premium services such as the Health Passport can be subscribed to within the app, should users wish to use the passport to travel. This will allow travel bubbles to open, negating the need to quarantine, as information will be verified electronically in the blockchain, it said.
Immunitee also announced that it has partnered with Singapore-based Affinidi to become Malaysia’s first Health Passport to be accepted into Singapore, through Affinidi’s Unifier digital credential platform, as part of a global pilot programme. Affinidi is founded by Temasek, a global investment firm owned by the Singapore Government
The partnership will allow travellers a enjoy a pleasant and hassle-free experience when travelling during the pandemic and will be easily verified at Singapore airport, once the borders are reopened.
“The future of travel in a Covid world means that travellers will be required to show proof of Covid-19 testing as well as a vaccination history, and the Immunitee Health Passport provides an end-to-end platform for users,” said Dato’ Dr Nick Boden, Chief Executive Officer, Immunitee. “The sheer scale of the Covid-19 vaccination drive means that in an extremely short period of time, systems need to be put into place that are cheap, accurate and can work on existing infrastructure. Immunitee can be quickly deployed and provides a single Vaccine Registry Management System, that unites private and public healthcare systems while simultaneously protecting confidential patient information. To this end we are proud to work with Affinidi, Singapore’s pioneering digital technology provider founded by Temasek.”
Dato’ Dr Boden added, “Vaccines have been developed at ‘breakneck’ speeds and are being supplied to governments and the private sector. It is important to ensure that the cold chain and vaccine management systems are in place to ensure proper traceability and authenticity. Patient safety and the ability to track adverse events are an essential part of the roll out.”
When asked about partnership with the Government of Malaysia, Dato’ Dr Boden said, “Not at the moment. For now, we believe we are a solution that can compliment the Government’s system going forward.”
Immunitee is part of 3DHealth Manufacturing Sdn Bhd.
Malaysia is expected to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine a week before the first phase of the national Covid-19 immunisation plan that begins on February 26, 2021.
