Australian Covid vaccination certificates come to your phone

Digital Covid vaccination certificates can now be stored straight to your iPhone, Apple watch or Android phone — but with one big privacy disclaimer.

Covid vaccination certificates are now available for storing on your phone and can be accessed via the myGov site and app, or via the Medicare Express app.

You need to have had both doses of the jab for your COVID-19 digital certificate to be available to you as a digital record. And it isn’t tethered to blockchain.

You can add your Covid vaccination certificate to Apple Wallet on an iPhone, which will make it easy to produce should you be required to show it, for example in the future on international flights.

You can even display your vaccination certificate on Apple Watch.

If you don’t have a phone, no problem. You can download a vaccination certificate as a .PDF file and print it out at home on your printer.

The Federal Government has made available digital vaccination certificates that you can store in an Apple iPhone wallet.

The certificate paves the way for federal and state governments to grant access and concessions to fully vaccinated Australians who present less of a health risk out and about.

“States and territories may consider the potential future value of Covid-19 digital certificates when considering automatic travel exemptions for interstate travel during state-determined lockdowns and travel restrictions,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in June.

“Your COVID-19 digital certificate shows your COVID-19 immunisation details recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register,” Medicare Australia says.

“It will become available once you have received all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Australia.”

You can download your digital vaccination certificate from the Express Plus Medicare app by accessing it either directly or via the myGov app.

“For privacy reasons, anyone 14 or older can get their own immunisation history.”

Apple has issued a cautionary note if you store your Covid vaccination certificate in Apple Wallet. It says a copy of your certificate will be stored on servers outside Australia, if you have enabled iCloud or another cloud backup service.

“If you choose to proceed, you acknowledge that Services Australia will not be accountable under the Privacy Act 1988 in relation to Apple or another third party’s handling of your information.”

The disclaimer when you add the app to Apple Wallet.

Vaccination certificates also are being made available in digital form for Android phones by the likes of Samsung and Google. Android users can store the certificate in the Google Pay app.

“It will be up to states and territories to decide if they provide exemptions from restrictions for vaccinated citizens,” The Australian reported in June.

The vaccination certificates were developed by Services Australia and the federal Department of Health.