Samsung devices that support Samsung Pay can now store digital versions of users’ COVID-19 vaccination cards, through a partnership with healthcare nonprofit The Commons Project, the smartphone company announced.
Users have to first download the free CommonHealth app from the Google Play store, and follow the instructions to access their COVID-19 vaccine record, from participating pharmacies, health systems, and health providers (not all providers are connected to the system yet). Once the user has access to their COVID-19 credential within the CommonHealth app, they can add it to their Samsung Pay wallet. The Covid-19 Vaccine Pass will then be available on the Samsung Pay app home page.
For restaurants, schools, offices, or other places that are requiring proof of vaccination, it’s not clear yet whether they’ll accept these electronic versions, or whether you’ll have to show your paper COVID-19 vaccination card. And Samsung Pay still has a very small market share of the mobile payments market, where Apple Pay dominates.
The electronic COVID vaccine card has been a bit slow to catch on, but there’s been some progress. In June, Google opened up Android’s built-in passes system to let Android users store a digital vaccine card, on their phones. Available first in the US, it will rely on support from healthcare providers, or other organizations authorized to distribute COVID vaccines. And some states, like New York and California, have introduced their own digital vaccine cards.
