Wigan software engineer designs Covid-19 vaccination card

Ryan, from Beech Hill, says his NHS e-vaccination card could securely provide a record of the vaccinations people have had to protect them against the novel coronavirus.

He says that currently people are only given paper cards which explains when they were vaccinated.

Ryan’s device, on the other hand, is similar to a credit or debit card.

The 20-year-old says he thinks people may need a more durable record of their Covid-19 vaccinations after seeing moves such as the one by travel company Saga to restrict its cruises to passengers who have been vaccinated.

He says having to proof which jabs you have had could be a feature of travel and life for some time to come.

Ryan said: “The current process is that you get paper which includes the person’s name, the fact that they have received the vaccine and the date along with the dose number.

“It’s just a paper card you need to store in your wallet. It can get damaged really quickly and the information written on it can become unintelligible over time.

“Saga announced no-one is going on one of their cruise holidays without a vaccine and I’ve seen countries pushing for what they are calling a Covid passport, which will essentially be the same thing.

“I’ve built a system which can replace the paper process. When a patient gets a vaccine they would receive a smart card and the information would get uploaded to it.

“The beauty of an e-vac is that it could also be used at airports. Going through security is stressful enough but the staff could just tap the card and see proof of vaccination. That would help with social distancing too.”

Ryan is now attempting to contact NHS England about his e-vac card and has tried to approach senior politicians as well.

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