VitalPass, the first blockchain-based system to track COVID-19 vaccination, launches in Colombia with plans to expand to several countries in Latin America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia, May 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the beginning of global vaccination efforts, many countries have identified the need to generate a digital passport that would facilitate and improve the transition to a post-pandemic world in an effective, safe and transparent way. In Colombia, this is now possible due to the partnership of the health sector, with Auna Ideas, and the financial sector, with Davivienda. Jointly, they have developed a tool capable of generating user-friendly, reliable, and simple experiences for patients.  Users will go from having a paper certificate to a digital certificate, developed and backed by Koibanx and Algorand, that is easily verifiable and accessible, 

How does VitalPass work?

1. When a person visits a participating location for vaccination, an email address will be used to assign a username. The vaccinator will complete a form with information about the person.
2. The certificates will be issued at the healthcare location and registered on the Algorand blockchain through a user interface designed by Koibanx .
3. This system provides the person with a passport-like document linked to a vaccine verification on the blockchain. The details are accessed through a simple QR code.
4. Verification of the first dose will be shown in yellow on the certificate and the second dose will be shown in green.

“At Auna Ideas we are committed to innovation, renewing and reinventing ourselves with the purpose of transforming health care. During the difficult times brought by  the pandemic, teamwork has given us the strength to continue innovating in the care of more people’s lives. So, for this project, we joined with Davivienda, Koibanx and Algorand - the best in their fields - to deliver greater security to the vaccination process for Covid-19, and to restore hope and tranquility for more people," said Andrés Vasquez, Director of Innovation at Health-Tech at Auna Ideas.

"Davivienda has trusted us again to develop a project on blockchain, and we chose Algorand to do it more efficiently. We hope this will help fight the health crisis in Colombia and show one of the many values this technology offers," said Edy Weber, CEO of Koibanx.

"We are excited about the innovation coming out of Latin America, particularly when it comes to the ability to harness the power of efficient and advanced blockchain to quickly bring innovative solutions to life," said W. Sean Ford, COO of Algorand. "It is exciting to see the expansion of Algorand's ecosystem in South America and that several leading organizations were able to coalesce around an open and accessible infrastructure to deliver a mission-critical solution."

This is the second time Auna Ideas and Davivienda have worked together in the midst of the pandemic to develop initiatives that positively impact the community through innovation.  They partnered previously in 2020 and developed "Doctora Julia," a technological solution that uses artificial intelligence. Doctor Julia enabled the diagnosis of more than 4,500 cases in just 5 minutes, all thanks to the proper classification of chest tomographic patterns associated with the COVID-19 with chest computed tomography images. It is hoped that this alliance will continue to reap triumphs and help boost various sectors of the country in its way to economic reactivation.

Auna Ideas Foundation
Auna Ideas is an open platform for scientific research, innovation in Health-Tech, health training, and social development in our continent with the support of AUNA. Since 2008 Auna seeks to transform health care and wellness in Latin America. With a presence in Peru and Colombia with more than 7,500 collaborators, they offer comprehensive health care to members and patients at every moment of their lives. They have a network of clinics and wellness centers, transversal health services, insurance products; all of this, with the support of the most advanced medical and academic research and a first-class team.

Algorand
Algorand is building the technology to push the Future of Finance (FutureFi), with the convergence of traditional and decentralized models into a unified system that is inclusive, secure and frictionless. Founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand developed a Blockchain infrastructure that offers the interoperability and capacity to handle the volume of transactions needed for DeFi, financial institutions and governments to easily transition to FutureFi. Chosen by more than 500 global organizations, Algorand's technology enables the easy creation of next-generation financial products, protocols and value exchange. For more information, visit us at: www.algorand.com

Davivienda
At Davivienda, we believe in a financial world that simplifies the lives of people, communities, businesses and cities. As a result, today we are a team of more than 17,200 people in Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Miami, innovating, investing in knowledge, talent and technology, collaborating and seeking to implement best practices worldwide. We do all this to provide simple solutions and exclusive offers to more than 17.5 million customers, enabling greater financial inclusion and sustainable development. We are currently the second-largest bank by portfolio in Colombia, with a network of 675 branches and close to 2,710 ATMs in Colombia and our international subsidiaries. We are one of the companies belonging to the Bolívar Group. *Financial Superintendency of Colombia (figure as of December 2020).

Koibanx
Since 2015 Koibanx has been helping banks and financial institutions integrate solutions to benefit from an agile and more cost-effective infrastructure built on Blockchain technology. Payments, factoring, loyalty, and asset tokenization can be made better and more securely on the Koibanx platform. They plan to connect and benefit all financial industry players in LATAM on the same infrastructure.

Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Algorand