As the ongoing Coronavirus-led pandemic continues to exist, people now need to show their COVID-19 vaccination certificates in various public places like airports, malls, and parks to prove their immunity. There are a lot of ways to store your vaccination certificate digitally in case you don’t want to carry a physical copy. However, a Swedish startup has now developed a microchip to store COVID-19 vaccination certificates of individuals that can be implanted into their skins.
Skin-Implantable COVID-Vaccine Chip Unveiled
The COVID-vaccine microchip, developed by a Sweden-based company named Dsruptive Subdermals, is a skin-implantable computer chip that can store an individual’s vaccination details. It is a 12-14mm long chipset, containing an NFC antenna, and is made of, what the company calls, a “bioglass” material. In a recent AFP News video on Twitter, Hannes Sjoblad, the Managing Director of the company, detailed the microchip. You can check it out attached right below.
How Does it Work?
Now, coming to the question of how it works, the microchip can be implanted into the forearm or the wrist of a person. It can then be scanned over the skin using a smartphone, thanks to the NFC antenna, and show all the vaccination information of the individual in a PDF document.
It is also worth mentioning that the chip can be scanned using anyone’s smartphone, given it has NFC functionality. Hence, you can always show that you are vaccinated, even if you don’t have your phone in your pocket.
Sjoblad explained that the microchip does not have any battery or any tracking component inside. So, it cannot be used to track the location or activities of individuals, which is a good thing. The chip only activates when a smartphone is brought near it. Otherwise, it remains “asleep” under the skin, as per Hannes.
For those looking to get the implantable, vaccination chip, you should know that it costs about €100 (~Rs 8,510) for a single implant, which is crazy-expensive.
Do We Really need Implantable Chips to Store COVID Vaccine Info?
As for what is the point of this COVID-vaccine chip, the company says that it allows individuals to always carry their COVID-vaccine certificates/passports to prove their immunity in public places. So, it is like that QR-code tattoo, which an Italian guy got earlier this year to always carry his vaccination certificate.
In my opinion, although the idea of an implantable chip is Black Mirror-level advanced, it is, however, unnecessary as there are many easier ways to get and store vaccination information. Nonetheless, we’d love to hear your opinions on this skin-implantable COVID-vaccine microchip in the comments below.
