Blockchain Covid-19 Immunity Passport for ACES from BlockTac

After the pandemic, the accreditation of the health status of people in relation to the COVID-19 disease and their degree of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 will be a determining aspect for the recovery of normality in professional and social relationships.

When and how should access to the job be, where it will be possible to go, what it will be feasible to do or visit, or with whom we can interact, they can only be answered with confidence with proof of whether or not the infection has been overcome. The reports of the analytical tests will serve to discriminate who could move freely, and who should be kept under control. And such tests, until a vaccine is developed, will have to be repeated periodically for those who have not acquired immunity.

The authenticity of the information and the possibility of its immediate verification constitutes a critical aspect to guarantee a safe recovery of social activities. Since 2008 an innovative technology has been developed with a force that surpasses the existing ones to provide that definitive proof of veracity and defense against fraud: the Blockchain. Although its applications initially focused on the financial sector, giving rise to cryptocurrencies, in recent years it has spread to the food and consumer products, to fight fraud and counterfeit, and in the health industry to preserve and secure patient medical information firmly.

BlockTac’s progress and achievements since 2018 may be immediately applied to meet the needs posed by the pandemic. For this reason, we have started working together with ACES (Catalan Association of Healthcare Entities) to make available to patients and users of their healthcare centers, an effective tool to securely recognize their health and immunity status relating to SARS-CoV-2. The result has been materialized in the mobile application i-Covid19.

BlockTac is responsible for registering in blockchain the reports of the SARS-CoV-2 tests carried out by the clinical laboratories associated with ACES that have voluntarily accessed this service. These digital certificates will be delivered to the analyzed people, who can keep them in the i-Covid19 application.

The digital certificates contained in the app correspond to the reports of serological studies carried out by accredited laboratories that establish immunity status and perform rapid viral antigen detection tests and PCR tests. According to the results of the tests, the immunity certificates prove the overcoming of the infection (they are accompanied by green color code), the state of acute infection (red color) or the absence of infection (yellow color). They also include the rules and recommendations to follow in each condition: normal activity (green), confinement (red), or follow-up and monitoring of symptoms (yellow).

The certificates of rapid viral antigen detection tests and PCR tests report the existence of infection (red color code) or its absence (yellow color). The corresponding indications are confinement and repetition of tests in the first case (red color), and follow-up and repetition of the test if symptoms appear, in the second (yellow).

The assessments and guidelines that accompany the certificates are based on the recommendations published in the most recent epidemiological reports (*) and will be updated, if necessary, with the arrival of new knowledge.

This application will help mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic and will play a decisive role in safely facilitating the process of reincorporation into work and social life when the confinement begins to be lifted.

ACES is the Catalan employers’ organization for private healthcare and has 238 associated companies that account for 388 healthcare centers. In Catalonia 2,314,008 people, 31.08% of its population, have private health insurance. The Catalan private health sector represents 3.5% of its GDP.
The establishment of this initiative has been done following the instructions and in coordination with health authorities and its implementation has been made available to all public and private institutions interested.

(*) Proposta d’intervencions de salut pública per al control de la infecció SARS-CoV-2 a la comunitat.
Authors: Joel López i Oriol Mitjà. Control epidemiològic COVID-19 (2020.04.03)