Digital Vaccine 'Passport' Coming To Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —With so many Orange County residents getting vaccinated, the Orange County Board of Supervisors and Health Care Agency are poised to provide digital proof-of-vaccination codes. But more than 100 residents took their two minutes at the podium Tuesday to decry the idea of putting health records on public display.

Orange County officials reassured the public they would not issue any mandates regarding access to public or private places depending on a resident's vaccine status and added that they're working on a program to provide digital proof of inoculation if a vaccine recipient wishes to have it. That program is a part of the Othena app, the end-to-end vaccination appointment scheduler that the county purchased to manage vaccinating 3.2 million residents.

The original contract specifications with Composite Apps Inc. showed a specific process designed for vaccine verification. In the contract, the company described how a business owner can identify whether a patron has been vaccinated by using a QR code on the Othena app.

Read: Othena: OC Residents Question Vaccine Scheduling App's History

The county's newest supervisor, Katrina Foley, and other supervisors said their offices had been inundated with calls from concerned residents. Some 179 speakers signed up to make comments to the board at Tuesday's meeting.

The suggestion of using the digital QR code process led some speakers to pray for wisdom over the board; others compared the action to being singled out, as in Nazi Germany, a point that all supervisors vehemently denied.

Board Chairman Andrew Do said that officials did not anticipate that the QR codes would have connotations of "exclusionary functions" suggested by commenters.

Most of the commenters opposed any vaccine passport or verification program in general. Some compared the verification to efforts to ban the unvaccinated from events or businesses, another point that was disputed by the board.

Board Chairman Andrew Do said the use of the term "vaccine passport" was "inartful."

Do and Supervisor Don Wagner earlier wrote that they opposed any government mandates regarding access to anything based on immunization status. Still, Do said he supported the proposal for a vaccine verification code "as an administrative tool to show proof of immunization" when a vaccine recipient at a county-run site needed or wanted one.

"We don't make a decision whether a business will use a passport or proof or not," Chau said. "We don't make that decision as a government agency."

As a "health entity, we are obligated by law to give people proof they have received services from us," he added.

Typically, the proof given to vaccinated residents comes in the form of a handwritten vaccination card.

Providing digital proof goes above and beyond that level of vaccine verification, one that some noticed on their Othena app in recent days. But the promised verification functionality was premature in its launch and "doesn't work," said Dr. Clayton Chau, the county's chief public health officer and director of the Orange County Health Care Agency. The verification feature was promised in the initial Othena app contract by Composite Apps Inc.

Chau told supervisors Tuesday that the Othena app and website prematurely featured a QR code to verify vaccines digitally. He added that the QR function was not currently active and would soon be removed until the pilot program is ready to launch.

"It is not active. It doesn't work," Chau said. "The reason it is there is because it is a prototype. ... We're planning on piloting it for businesses that require it."

Supervisors also discussed the merit of adding $3.8 million to the county's contract with Composite Apps Inc. to provide a variety of new services, including digital proof of inoculation at a county-run site, Kim said.

Dr. Margaret Bredehoft, deputy director of Public Health Services with the O.C. Health Care Agency, talked to Patch regarding the new contract to pay an additional $3.8 million, a portion of which was targeted to adding the QR code.

The digital vaccine verification (formerly referred to as a passport) would include the ability to interface with the state of California's CAIR2 database for validation of vaccine records.

"This is performed, partially, outside of the Othena system," Bredehoft said. The new system should work for all, whether they got their vaccine through O.C. health or not, with the ability to add pictures of vaccination cards and other features, she said. Those features would go beyond the original statement of work.

Patch has requested a copy of the new Composite Apps Inc. contract amendment for further perusal.

It is not yet clear who would need to see a digital proof of vaccination.

California State officials have said it will not issue vaccine "passports" or verifications, but that counties that run vaccine distribution sites "must do so," Chau said.

Orange County CEO Frank Kim said that the request for digital proof of inoculation would be entirely voluntary.

"On the app itself, if you want a digital record you received a vaccination through the county, you will have a button you will push, and once you push the button, it will provide you with a QR code," Kim said.

The button is on the original statement of work provided by Composite Apps Inc.'s subsidiary Curapatient, which developed the app. The original contract showed how a business owner can view a QR code that confirms the vaccination status of any Orange County resident.

Still, the specific process was not fully fleshed out, something that will come with a hefty price tag, according to a new proposed contract addendum.

Chau said businesses have "every right to do whatever they want to do to make their environment safe" but added that the government cannot prohibit someone from a public place because of vaccination status.

Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said county officials must do more to "make it very crystal clear we don't control the universities, the private businesses or skilled nursing facilities."

Wagner questioned why a digital record is necessary when vaccine recipients receive a card upon inoculation.

Chau said some people are selling forged cards and added that a digital record is more secure and reliable.

Supervisor Katrina Foley said she was "concerned we have a small minority of individuals who have been calling our offices all day" and that most of the county has either gotten inoculated or supported vaccines. She also questioned whether the information on Othena was truly secure

Chau replied that all information on Othena "is stored in the Google cloud," the same place favored by the U.S. Department of Justice. "The QR code is much safer than any other form or letter," Chau said.

Supervisor Doug Chaffee, whose district includes the home of the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Angels, as well as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, said a vaccine verification system is "very important in the travel industry and entertainment industries. ... Not having this ability is going to affect their reopening."

Patch requested a detailed list of the amendments to the original contract and will update this report with that information when it is received.

Do you think a digital vaccination verification will help or hurt Orange County going forward? Tell us your thoughts in the comments or via email to your Patch editor.

Details of the original Othena app proposal are included below.

MA-042-21010855_CuraPatient COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Application_Composite Apps Inc by Ashley Ludwig on Scribd