PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey this week rolled out a free app that stores a record of your COVID-19 vaccine. In the future, officials promise, it will also provide access to your entire vaccination history.
However, not everyone is convinced the app is solely about convenience.
"To be absolutely clear, this is not a passport," said Gov. Phil Murphy.
"Docket is intended to give people easy access to their COVID vaccination record."
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Federal health officials are paying for the app through the end of the year.
The state health department tells us no third-party vendors will have access to Docket, and they pledge the program is built to maintain data security and privacy.
"It will be broadened to provide you with your entire record from the New Jersey Immunization Information System," Murphy said.
All of that is a red flag for the New Jersey Republican Party.
It's something State Senator Mike Testa of South Jersey warns could easily be "converted into a vaccine passport. The Republican says it could be used to prevent people who haven't gotten the vaccine "from traveling, accessing public places or events, attending school, or even working."
Testa is behind a bill that would prohibit the state from requiring businesses to confirm whether someone is vaccinated against COVID-19 before allowing them inside.
"An app that stores our vaccination records? Sounds like a (vaccine) passport to us," the party added in a statement. Opponents of vaccine passports argue they separate citizens into classes.
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For his part, Murphy has said New Jersey eventually will get some form of a COVID-19 vaccine passport, but not until more is done to improve access to the shots.
"We've come a long way, but particularly in black and brown communities, we're not yet where we need to be," he said.
Health officials in Pennsylvania say they're "not currently exploring" a system for digital access to vaccine records.