App ‘myGP’ will launch England’s first digital COVID-19 vaccination verification feature for smartphones, from February.
Vaccination Verification
Following the recent vaccination news, myGP, assured by the NHS, will be rolling out the first vaccination verification feature for smartphones. The new feature can be found within the patient profile page of the myGP app. Here, there will appear a green tick to show that the patient has had the virus vaccination (including the final vaccine dose). The green tick will appear 21 days after the final vaccine dose, when a patient is considered to be sufficiently protected from the virus. The ‘tick’ will be enough to act as a clinical assurance, directly from a patient’s medical record. This new method is a simple and clear way to communicate that they are protected from the virus.
myGP
myGP is the largest independent GP booking and healthcare management app in the UK, connecting patients with primary care. The app is developed by iPLATO Healthcare, based in Hammersmith. They have worked closely alongside the NHS over the years and gained NHS accreditation. This allows the app permissions to show patients their medical records, request GP appointments and request repeat prescriptions all directly via the app. More than 200,000 patients in England have accessed their medical records via the app in the last 2 months and over two million patients in England currently have access. This new feature will be rolled out from February 2021.
Economy Back on Track
Hopes for myGP are high with many thinking it might help on the road to economic recovery. The ability to validate vaccination and protection from the virus can help many floundering sectors such as hospitality and the arts. Additionally, it is hoped that the technology will reduce the administrative burden on GPs, who are likely to be overwhelmed with requests for vaccination verification as people return to daily life.
Public Perception
Through their ongoing patient research, myGP has been gauging public perception about their health, access to care and views about the COVID-19 vaccine. Since the recent approval of the vaccine, myGP interviewed 2,000 adults, 31% of whom said they did not intend to have the vaccine. However, of this group, 23% said they could be swayed to have the vaccine if it meant that they could attend events and activities without the need for strict social distancing measures.
