Keeva Seegobin wanted to find a way to encourage Trinidad and Tobago to be vaccinated against the covid19 virus, and decided that wristbands would help. He wanted people to wear bands with the word "Vaccinated" on them.
But when the covid19 vaccines came to TT, he realised that idea could be applied to vaccine verification.
That is how he came up with the service Verifyvaccinated.com.
As TT introduces the concept of safe zones, Seegobin believes this is a great way for those businesses that will fall within the safe zones to tell who is vaccinated and who isn't.
The TT Safe Zone initiative launched on October 11 will allow fully-vaccinated people to access cinemas, bars, restaurants, gyms, casinos and water parks.
These spaces were closed in an effort to fight the pandemic. Under the safe-zone initiative, there are rules for employees of safe-zone businesses as well as customers.
[caption id="attachment_918832" align="alignnone" width="768"] Keeva Seegobin is the founder of Verifyvaccinated.com. He says this is a solution to being able to tell those who are vaccinated and those who are not. -[/caption]
Employees of safe-zone businesses must be fully vaccinated, and must have copies of their vaccination cards on the premises and available for inspection by authorities, the Government said on the Ministry of Health's website.
Customers must also have proof of vaccination and a form of valid photo ID at all times.
People who have an authentic medical exemption/deferral certificate and the required negative PCR test, as set out in the public health covid19 regulations, may also be permitted within a safe zone, the website said.
Seegobin said it was impractical for citizens to be walking around with vaccination cards, even if they were laminated. He said digital technology enabled a simpler way of verifying vaccination and that is where his service comes in.
Verifyvaccinated is a third-party website, and the silicone band sold by Seegobin and his team has a QR code which takes safe-zone businesses to the website. A Quick Response (QR) code is a pattern of black and white squares that can be read by a smartphone, allowing the phone user to get more information about something.
Each individual will have a unique alphanumeric code that contains their vaccine status and/or medical information such as blood type.
[caption id="attachment_918835" align="alignnone" width="683"] -[/caption]
The code is engraved on the band, Seegobin said. To verify one's vaccination status, a business or person would simply need to enter an individual's code on the website, and that person's vaccination status will be retrieved. This makes checking one's vaccine status easier and an individual does not have to walk around with the physical immunisation card.
Seegobin told Newsday verifyvaccinated.com was a project he started in April or May.
Seeing the toll the pandemic took on TT was truly scary for him. When the world was introduced to the covid19 vaccines, he anticipated there would be some level of hesitancy
