The Ministry of Health has selected Auckland-based identity provider MATTR to build and supply the new My Vaccine Pass system, which will supply vaccine passes that will soon be mandatory in many places around the country - and the world.

Mattr will build the vaccine passes and provide the technologies for the app, which will rely on QR code generation. Mattr will also support the Ministry's Verifier app for businesses or anyone who needs to check a person's vaccine status.

Mattr secured the deal through a closed competitive tender process that encouraged a collaborative approach by companies who could credibly and capably provide certificate generation capabilities for these purposes.

National Digital Services group manager Michael Dreyer says, “It was important for the Ministry to work with a New Zealand tech company that understood the need for the public to have a secure digital record of their vaccine status.

The Ministry of Health has also published the specification for the vaccine pass and the verifier to its GitHub account. The specifications describe the data in the QR code, the technology that is used to encode it, and how the QR code is expected to be interpreted and processed.

There will be separate vaccine passes for domestic and international use. According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, the passes will be stored in a QR code that can be downloaded to a phone or printed out.

Dreyer says that now that the specifications have been released, people can understand how the vaccine passes will work.

“We have been talking to events companies, tourism operators, and other businesses to understand their requirements for verification. The Ministry's Verifier App can be used for in-person verification, however if companies would like to introduce more sophisticated capabilities, such as integration into existing digital journeys or pre-verification processes, then the technical specification provides enough details for them to do so.”

“It is important for businesses to check out the approach being taken and start considering how best to make this a part of how they operate.

The My Vaccine Pass system is expected to be available in late November.  Vaccine certificates will be available separately through the MyCOVID-19Record platform.