Users will be able to integrate their COVID-19 vaccination card into the Wallet app in an upcoming edition of iOS 15, making it easier to show upon request.
As part of the iOS 15 upgrade, Apple Wallet will let users add verifiable COVID-19 vaccination cards to the app. Users can upload their vaccination status to the Health app, which then creates a vaccination card in Apple Wallet in the iOS 15.1 beta, which was released on Tuesday, September 21. This makes it easy for iPhone users to show their vaccination status at airports, event venues, and other businesses that facilitate in-person interactions
The feature isn’t available yet outside of iOS 15 beta builds, but ill prove useful once it gets here. Several establishments, including restaurants, pubs, and sporting arenas, have already begun to ask guests to provide proof of vaccination or recent negative test results at the entry. You wouldn’t need to remember to keep your vaccination card on your person as you step out the door with Apple Wallet integration because you’d have everything you need on your phone.
Apple has also stated that customer data will be kept in absolute confidence. Users have been advised that Apple will not have access to their imported or shared records and that all information must be encrypted and securely kept when transmitted elsewhere. Apple would also be unable to see vaccination cards or how they were utilized by users.
Users could also expect further convenience-oriented integrations with verifiable health records, according to Apple.
“Organizations that issue SMART Health Cards will soon be able to use a new button to let users know that they can securely download and store their vaccination information in the Health app and quickly add and present it from Wallet,” the blog post reads.
Support for digital copies of government-issued IDs, such as driver’s licenses, is also coming to Wallet in iOS 15. According to one speculation, Apple will utilize facial recognition to validate IDs, similar to the method used by some financial institutions to authenticate transactions on the iPhone.
