Vaccination coordination is facing daunting challenges. People are expected to navigate an array of websites and health authorities are using disconnected health IT systems. Reporting lags by several days. Following up with vaccinated subjects to monitor side effects is difficult. The systems to monitor ineffective batches of vaccines are yet to become mature. Vaccine verifications documents are prone to fraud. Can a new vaccination card simplify the user vaccination journey and create data-rich monitoring of the progress in vaccination?

To explore this question, MIT, in collaboration with IDEO, is visualizing some of the key moments of this experience, including an early concept of a modified, paper-based vaccination record that uses QR codes to secure personal information related to vaccination status. These visualizations are helping to support ongoing conversations with leaders from various states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) as they consider the desirability, viability and feasibility of this approach. These leaders are, in turn, informing ongoing refinements, with a specific focus on accessibility, materials and other functional considerations to ensure that they deliver on the highest standards of usability.