COVID-19 – HLN Consulting, LLC

The Challenge of Documenting COVID Vaccinations from Overseas

by Noam Arzton July 16, 2021

I have been writing for some time on the topic of vaccine credentials in the US and especially the role of public health registries in creating and supporting them. While the rules around data management for vaccinations apply within the US, people move in and out of the country and their data needs to move with them. Managing and documenting vaccination events for people inside the US who received COVID-19 vaccinations outside of the US is challenging and may not get easier anytime soon.
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HLN To Present at AIRA 2021 and HIMSS21 Digital Symposium

by Lux Phatakon June 30, 2021

American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA) 2021 National Meeting – August 3-5

IIS Consumer Access Strategies in the Age of COVID: presented by Dr. Noam Arzt
IIS provide complete and comprehensive immunization records for the individuals whose records they hold either directly or through a clinical provider. A key factor of reopening in the United States and some other countries may be a requirement for individuals to prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. “Proof” will likely be embodied in a paper – or perhaps electronic – certificate whose source and contents can be independently verified to ensure validity. The increased use of immunization data has led to different strategies applied by IIS to provide access to the information. This presentation will discuss specific approaches.

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Towards a National COVID-19 Vaccine Credential Strategy in the US

by Noam Arzton May 28, 2021

I have been monitoring the vaccine credential effort for a long time and watching various initiatives worldwide with a particular focus on what might be done in the United States. In a series of blog posts over the past several months I have described at length how the situation in the US differs from the situation in many other countries. In this post I will review the “facts on the ground” as I see them and offer a way forward for the US.

Vaccine Credentials Do Not Replace Full Vaccination Histories

by Noam Arzton May 9, 2021

More than a year into the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus, one of the key factors to reopen the United States and some other countries may be a requirement for individuals to prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. This “Proof” of vaccination is called vaccine credentialing and will likely be embodied in a paper or electronic certificate. We have discussed this extensively in a series of articles (see below). On the other hand there are already systems of records that have a far more extensive vaccination history. There is a major concern here among public health officials that the push to minimalization with vaccine credentials will push aside fuller vaccination history. As part of their core function, Immunization Information Systems (IIS) already provide complete and comprehensive immunization records for the individuals whose records they hold either directly or through a clinical provider. In this article we will address the similarities and differences between vaccine credentials and traditional immunization histories and offer some opportunities for public health to maintain its role in data access.

Vaccine Credential Activities: Redirecting the Conversation for Public Health Registries

by Noam Arzton April 13, 2021

US public health agencies have been playing a critical role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are currently managing an unprecedented vaccination campaign. Immunization Information Systems (IIS) are a key tool that these agencies use to manage their public health mission and the vaccination campaign. How should public health agencies understand and manage the flurry of controversy – and the loud cautions – surrounding digital vaccine credentials? This blog post is part of a series of posts we have written over the past few weeks where we offer specific advice to reduce confusion about what vaccine credentialing is and how it functions. As a leading public health informatics consulting company, HLN is uniquely positioned to provide guidance and support for government, private enterprise, and consumers interfacing with IIS projects and their standards. A list of previous posts in the series can be found at the end of this post.