====== Excelsior Pass ======

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The **Excelsior Pass** is an American [[vaccine passport]] program in operation in the [[united_states:New York|State of New York]]. It it officially described as a "secure, digital proof of [[COVID-19 vaccines|COVID-19 vaccination]] or negative test results."((//Excelsior Pass Frequently Asked Questions.// New York Forward. Retrieved April 21, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.04.21-171701/https://forward.ny.gov/excelsior-pass-frequently-asked-questions))

It was developed in partnership with [[IBM]], built on top of their IBM Digital Health Pass.((//Governor Cuomo Announces Pilot Program Testing the Excelsior Pass at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center.// (2021, March 2). Governor of New York. http://archive.today/2021.03.06-215033/https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-pilot-program-testing-excelsior-pass-madison-square-garden-and)) ((LaFleche, S. (2021, March 25). //Digital Solutions Help Support New York State with Reopening Plans.// IBM Newsroom. https://web.archive.org/web/20230602222643/https://newsroom.ibm.com/Digital-Solutions-Help-Support-New-York-State-with-Reopening-Plans))

===== History =====

==== Development ====

Work on what became the Excelsior Pass began in September 2019.((Solomon, J. (2023, May 14). //Excelsior Pass ballooned to $64 million and keeps rising.// Times Union. http://archive.today/2023.05.15-152256/https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/excelsior-pass-ballooned-64-million-keeps-rising-18091575.php))

[[united_states:New York]] Governor [[Andrew Cuomo]] first announced the Excelsior Pass during his 2021 "State of the State" address on January 10, 2021.((//Governor Cuomo Announces Pilot Program Testing the Excelsior Pass at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center.// (2021, March 2). Governor of New York. http://archive.today/2021.03.06-215033/https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-pilot-program-testing-excelsior-pass-madison-square-garden-and))

On March 2, 2021, Cuomo announced the launch of a pilot program to test out the new passport program at [[Madison Square Garden]] and [[Barclays Center]].((//Governor Cuomo Announces Pilot Program Testing the Excelsior Pass at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center.// (2021, March 2). Governor of New York. http://archive.today/2021.03.06-215033/https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-pilot-program-testing-excelsior-pass-madison-square-garden-and)) The app was then officially launched to the wider public on March 26, 2021.((//Governor Cuomo Announces Launch of Excelsior Pass to Help Fast-Track Reopening of Businesses and Entertainment Venues Statewide.// (2021, March 26). Governor of New York. http://archive.today/2021.03.27-121149/https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-launch-excelsior-pass-help-fast-track-reopening-businesses-and))

A three-year development contract for the application was signed between the [[New York State Office of Information Technology Services]] and [[IBM]] on June 24, 2021.((Cahn, A. (2021, August 18). //Excelsior Pass Contract.// S.T.O.P. - the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. https://www.stopspying.org/excelsior-pass-contract)) The //[[New York Times]]// reported that the true cost of the project was much higher than originally proposed, for a likely total of $17 million over three years. Further, the outlet revealed that the Excelsior Pass was designed to contain more personal information than just vaccine status, including other health data and driver's license.((Otterman, S. (2021, June 9). //New York’s Vaccine Passport Could Cost Taxpayers $17 Million.// The New York Times. http://archive.today/2021.06.12-014013/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/nyregion/excelsior-pass-vaccine-passport.html)) A followup report increased the estimate to $27 million.((Otterman, S. (2021, August 19). //New York’s “Excelsior Pass” could cost up to $27 million.// The New York Times. http://archive.today/2021.10.21-163822/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/nyregion/new-york-excelsior-pass-cost.html))

On August 5, 2021, Cuomo announced the introduction of the "Excelsior Pass //Plus//" which would expand the program into other states and internationally.((//Excelsior Pass Plus to be recognized out of state, internationally.// (2021, August 5). WGRZ. http://archive.today/2023.05.31-222250/https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/excelsior-pass-plus-to-be-recognized-out-of-state-internationally/71-434f8c6f-cbac-4d61-a732-ac0e0769efa3)) The expansion connected the Excelsior Pass to the [[SMART Health Card|SMART Health Card Framework]] developed by the [[Vaccine Credential Initiative]] (VCI), and [[VeriFLY]] by [[Daon]].((//Governor Cuomo Announces Launch of Excelsior Pass Plus to Support the Safe, Secure Return of Tourism and Business Travel.// (2021, August 5). Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. http://archive.today/2021.08.13-172133/https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-launch-excelsior-pass-plus-support-safe-secure-return-tourism-and))

[[united_states:new_york:New York City]] began enforcing its mandatory [[covid-19_vaccines|COVID-19 vaccination]] policy for indoor businesses on September 13, 2021.((Duggan, K. (2021, September 12). //NYC begins enforcing COVID-19 vaccine mandate for indoor businesses Monday. Here’s what you need to know.// AmNewYork. https://web.archive.org/web/20230531221228/https://www.amny.com/lifestyle/health/coronavirus/city-starts-enforcing-covid-vaccine-mandate-at-indoor-venues-monday/))

On May 14, 2023, the //[[Times Union]]// reported that the cost of the project had reached $64 million, which included payments to [[IBM]] and two consultants on the project, [[Boston Consulting Group]] (BCG) and [[Deloitte]].((Solomon, J. (2023, May 14). //Excelsior Pass ballooned to $64 million and keeps rising.// Times Union. http://archive.today/2023.05.15-152256/https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/excelsior-pass-ballooned-64-million-keeps-rising-18091575.php))

===== Functions =====

The Excelsior Pass initially offered three different types of pass:((//Excelsior Pass Frequently Asked Questions.// New York Forward. Retrieved April 21, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.04.21-171701/https://forward.ny.gov/excelsior-pass-frequently-asked-questions))

  * COVID-19 Vaccination Pass (valid for 180 days after the final dose of the vaccine was administered, at which time a new Pass may be retrieved)
  * COVID-19 [[PCR]] Test Pass (valid until midnight on the third day after a test)
  * COVID-19 [[Antigen]] Test Pass (valid for 6 hours from the time of a test)

===== External links =====

  * [[https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/excelsior-pass-plus|Website]]