Some US vaccinations recognised

As from Friday 23rd July, the Government has been able to securely verify vaccination records from some North American and European Union issuers, adding to those already recognised from the UK’s National Health Service and Cayman’s own Health Services Authority.

The expanded list of systems and countries from which vaccination records can be securely verified now includes:

• Issuers who use SMART Health Cards and are a part of the CommonTrust Network. This includes North American issuers, such as:

* Walmart Pharmacy

* Sam's Club Pharmacy

* State of California

* State of Louisiana

* UC San Diego Health

* CVS Health

* UC Health

• Vaccination records from the European Union Member States and other countries that meet the EU Digital COVID Certificate standard.

Cayman’s ability to now recognise vaccinations from these providers has been developed through a partnership by the Ministry of Health & Wellness and Government’s Computer Services Department, which developed technological solutions enabling the scanning of QR codes to securely verify vaccination records. QR codes are electronic data, similar to a barcode, which can be displayed on a smart phone or by presenting a physical paper copy. As these vaccinations can now be recognised, they meet Cayman’s standards for secure verification, which means people travelling from countries with vaccinations that meet these criteria can now qualify for a reduced quarantine upon arrival into Cayman.

Health Minister Sabrina Turner said she was proud of the implementation of this new solution to securely verify international vaccination records.

“The Cayman Islands Government continues to put the health and safety of our community first as we make the necessary provisions to reopen our borders. I thank the Civil Service and the HSA for their ongoing hard work to protect our people,” she said.

Travellers are considered fully vaccinated if they have received a full course of an approved vaccination at least 14 days prior to their travel date. If the vaccination records meet the criteria for being securely verifiable, the traveller is only required to quarantine for five days (which equates to six by the time the individual is actually released), once all members of the quarantine group also have securely verifiable vaccination records.

Government said the approved list would grow as other vaccination issuers developed ways to produce securely verifiable vaccination records.

For more information on securely verifiable vaccination records, visit: https://www.exploregov.ky/faqs/covid-19-travel-reopening#faq-secure-verification