The AMA is calling on the federal government to take a strong role in establishing, publicizing and enforcing guidelines that all digital vaccine credential services (DVCS)—aka “vaccine passports”—must follow.

But first, “the use of DCVS should not outpace vaccine availability,” the AMA’s executive vice president and CEO, James L. Madara, MD, wrote in a letter to National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP.

“Until the time that all Americans are easily able to access vaccines and trusted DVCS, we must guard against programs that appear to confer special social privilege based on one’s COVID-19 vaccination status,” Dr. Madara wrote. “For DVCS to be successful, vaccines must be universally accessible and the federal government must create strong guardrails around DVCS’ use of personal data.”

My latest for the AMA. The whole shebang.