Vaccination bracelet inventor says his device tells the powers that be, 'I support the vaccine effort, I've been vaccinated, I'm safe to be around'

With newfangled vaccination bracelets now on the market, a standard question from public venue gatekeepers could end up being "May I see your ImmunaBand?" rather than "May I see your vaccine card?"

What are the details?

KSWB-TV ran a report last week on a bracelet that can offer proof that you've been vaccinated. It's called the ImmunaBand, and it comes from Dr. Toshof Bernton of Denver, who said the invention was actually his son's idea from several months ago.

Image source: KSWB-TV video screenshot

"If we had something where you can say, 'OK, I support the vaccine effort, I've been vaccinated, I'm safe to be around,' it would help us particularly as we start opening up," Bernton told the station.

Image source: KSWB-TV video screenshot

The ImmunaBand has been for sale for about a month, and KSWB said thousands of the $19.99 bracelets have sold already.

Bernton said the ImmunaBand — which he believes is the first of its kind on the market — stores vaccine records so wearers don't have to carry around their vaccine cards.

How does it work?

Once you've purchased the bracelet, you send a copy of your vaccine card to the ImmunaBand company, which loads your record into its encrypted website, the station said. After that, the bracelet comes in the mail with a QR code affixed to it, KSWB said.

The station said that if officials want to verify that you've been vaccinated, they pull out their cellphones, take an image of the QR code, and then they can see your vaccine record.

Image source: KSWB-TV video screenshot

Bernton noted to the station that if your ImmunaBand is stolen, the thief can get to the website but not to your vaccine record unless your PIN is known.

One of Bernton's customers sent him a photo of himself wearing an ImmunaBand at a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, KSWB said, and the customer said he was allowed into the venue after an employee at the gate pulled up the website through the QR code.

Image source: KSWB-TV video screenshot

Madison Square Garden's policy says that "guests can now enter with proof of a negative antigen COVID-19 test or full vaccination."

In March, New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a pilot program for a COVID-19 electronic passport that allows users entry into public venues. TheBlaze reported last week that a growing number of NBA and MLB franchises will be asking for "vaccine passports" as they reopen their venues.

What has been the reaction?

Bernton also told the station that a lot of companies in the travel and hospitality industries are buying his vaccination bracelets for their employees. KSWB spoke to outdoor restaurant patrons in the Little Italy section of San Diego regarding the new ImmunaBand and received mixed reactions to the invention.

"It's a little too much," one woman told the station.

But another patron, Keshaun Slaughter, told KSWB that the vaccination bracelet is "actually [a] pretty good" idea since "a lot of people have their doubts about going in certain areas and certain places, so if there's actually people with QR codes on wristbands, it will make it a lot easier for people to be comfortable."