Employers scramble to secure vaccine verification systems

Businesses are scrambling to secure systems for verifying COVID-19 vaccinations and implementing weekly testing following President Biden’s vaccine-or-test order announced last week.

The White House has not yet clarified key details of the new requirements, such as how companies should verify an employee’s vaccination status or whether the federal government will pick up the tab on testing, creating uncertainty among employers on how to move forward.

Still, many companies are already eyeing digital platforms to ensure employees comply with the forthcoming rule.

ReturnSafe, a startup that helps companies track workers’ vaccination and testing status through a phone app, received a 76 percent increase in inquiries following Biden’s announcement, mostly from firms with more than 1,000 employees, according to CEO Jikku Venkat.

“More and more employers are thinking about testing and vaccine protocols and how they will implement them,” Venkat said. “If I have thousands of employees spread across the country, I need some systematic way of doing all of this from a human resources standpoint.”

The administration’s rule will require companies with 100 or more workers to mandate vaccinations or weekly testing. Businesses that don’t comply with the rule could face fines up to $14,000 per violation, raising the stakes for firms that have a large number of employees to keep track of.

Employers are also looking into digital vaccine cards that have been implemented in several states as part of the Vaccination Credential Initiative, a public-private partnership that includes tech and health care giants such as Microsoft Corp. and the Mayo Clinic.

A large number of firms that already mandate vaccines for employees have yet to impose verification measures, instead asking employees to attest that they got the shot. That standard likely won’t satisfy the Biden administration rule, experts said, but as of now it’s not clear.

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