Hawaii officials have announced that U.S. travelers with a SMART Health Card can avoid the state’s quarantine requirements by digitally verifying their vaccination status through the CommonPass app.
The CommonPass app, developed by The Commons Project, collects all lab results, vaccination records and documents required for domestic travelers to visit various U.S. destinations, including Hawaii.
The SMART Health Card, created by the Vaccination Credential Initiative, provides digital vaccine records that can be securely shared with compatible services like CommonPass.
Currently, the State of California, the State of Louisiana, Sam’s Club and Walmart use SMART Health Cards to provide digital vaccine records for people who have been vaccinated. Additional states, health care providers and pharmacies are expected to start using the system in the near future.
Hawaii-bound travelers who link their Smart Health Card vaccination records to the CommonPass app will be instantly verified by the state’s Safe Travels app, meaning they can bypass quarantine and move freely throughout the islands on arrival.
“CommonPass provides passengers, airlines and governments with a trusted system to digitally verify that a traveler meets entry requirements upon arrival,” said Paul Meyer, CEO of The Commons Project Foundation, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with the State of Hawaii to offer CommonPass as a secure health verification option for domestic travelers as they return to travel, making the process easier for all stakeholders.”
In addition to CommonPass, Hawaii tourists can also verify their vaccination status through the CLEAR Health Pass app or by uploading copies of their vaccination records to the Safe Travels app.
Tourism to the Hawaiian Islands has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the year, with air passenger arrivals hitting almost 630,000 in May, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. In comparison, just 9,116 people arrived by air in May 2020.
Travel numbers are expected to rise throughout the summer as more Americans get vaccinated.
According to Hawaii Gov. David Ige, officials will lift all COVID-related travel restrictions when the state’s vaccination rate hits 70%, a milestone that will likely be reached in September.
As of July 12, nearly 60% of Hawaii residents were fully vaccinated.