The problem is that these paper sheets go missing and personal records are lost. Parents may not know if their child has all their vaccinations or when they should go for a booster shot.
The idea for a phone application to replace yellow cards was devised by Dr. Kumanan Wilson, a pandemic planning expert and scientist from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and a Canadian Research Chair in Public Health Policy. He mentioned the idea to Cameron Bell, an electrical engineering student at McGill University. Bell had worked on a website with Wilson, and surprised him with a beta version of the app a few months later. Both have since developed the application into something quite impressive.
Called ImmunizeON, the app is currently for select provinces only, but a fully national update is in the works. The app is only available for Apple products, but they are working on extending the program to other devices. From the iTunes store, the description of the product includes:
“ImmunizeON replaces the immunization record currently on paper with an electronic record, so that you can carry a copy of your child’s vaccination record on your mobile device at all times. You will never again have misplaced your child’s vaccination record when your child changes schools, registers for summer camp or visits a physician.
ImmunizeON also has many other great features. It provides up-to-date information on the vaccination schedule set forth by the public health authorities of Ontario, and will alert you if your child has an overdue vaccination. Another useful feature of ImmunizeON is that it uses location-awareness to provide you with alerts about vaccine-preventable outbreaks occurring in your vicinity. The alert will inform you if there are any overdue vaccinations leaving your child at risk.”
Find the application download link at iTunes.
Source: iTunes, Ottawa Citizen
