A new way for iPhone users to save a vaccine card

Brian X. Chen, the consumer technology columnist for The New York Times, is back with fresh advice on digital record keeping for Covid-19 vaccinations.

A few months ago, I shared a tip about how to securely store your digital vaccine card on your phone. As of this week, iPhone users now have a much simpler way to store their vaccine cards by adding the document to Apple’s Wallet app, its software that holds credit cards and important documents like travel itineraries.

Here’s how to set it up:

Download and install the latest software update for iOS (version 15.1). To do that, open the Settings app, tap General and then tap Software Update.

Now retrieve your digital vaccine card from your health department. These steps vary by state. California residents can visit the vaccine record website for the California Department of Public Health to request a copy of their digital vaccine card.

Once you receive the vaccine card, tap and hold down on the QR code — a digital bar code that looks like a bunch of black-and-white squares — to open a menu. Then select “Open in Health.”

Here, select “Add to Wallet & Health.” Now you can access your vaccine card by opening the Wallet app.

Jim Hamm