Implanted microchip could be used to verify COVID-19 vax status

Implanted microchip could be used to verify COVID-19 vax status

Originally appeared on FoxBaltimore.com

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (TND) — Microchip technology invented by Swedish startup company “Epicenter” is now being presented as a possible way to carry around a COVID-19 vaccine passport under a person’s skin, according to a viral video.

“Beep boop beep: Your vaccination record has been verified,” says the caption of the video posted to Twitter by South China Morning Post.

Beep boop beep: Your vaccination record has been verified 🤖 pic.twitter.com/dpAkSCudxf

— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) December 17, 2021

“Imagine showing your COVID-19 passport with just a flash of your arm,” the video says at its beginning, showing a person holding out their arm and scanning it with a mobile phone.

The video explains the microchip uses pre-existing technology the startup company was already developing to employ “near-field communication” (NFC) and send data to any compatible device. Smartphones are listed as an example of a possible data receiver.

“Implants are a very versatile technology that can be used for many different things,” says Epicenter’s Chief Disruption Officer Hannes Sjöblad in the video. “Right now it is very convenient to have a COVID passport always accessible on your implant.”

A microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, can be embedded under a person’s skin, either under the arm or between the pointer finger and thumb, according to Sjöblad during his appearance on a Tech2025 Webinar. After the chip is implanted, data such as a vaccine passport can be stored on it using NFC-compatible devices.

Tech2025 says the point of such chips is to replace the need to carry around key fobs, identification cards, and business cards. People would be able to store data, such as passports for airports and medical records, on their chips.

The procedure can be done for as little as $100 and is reportedly “completely reversible”.

The human body is the next big platform. We are updating our bodies with technology on a large scale already with wearables. But all of the wearables we wear today will be implantable in our bodies in five to 10 years,” Sjöblad says, according to Tech2025.

It has been predicted by tech and business leaders that up to half of Americans will be “chipped” by the year 2025, but Tech2025 admits there is pushback on implants from lawmakers, advocacy groups, and the public, which likely makes such a prediction more of a dream than reality.