Development of an electronic chip implanted under the skin to store Covid-19 vaccination information

The Swedish company DSruptive Subdermals, which specializes in implantable microelectronics, has developed a Covid-19 vaccination certificate in the form of an electronic chip implanted under the skin.

Hannes Sjoblad, CEO of DSruptive Subdermals - who is particularly concerned about privacy - said that he has an electronic chip implanted under his arm and has programmed the chip to store injection information. with the desire that information could be easily accessed just by scanning the phone onto the chip and unlocking it.

Mr. Hannes Sjoblad, Director of DSruptive Subdermals, presents an electronic chip, in Stockholm, Sweden, December 20, 2021. (Photo: AFP).

According to Hannes Sjoblad, the implant costs up to 100 euros ($113.4) for the high-end version. These chips are less than half the price of wearable fitness trackers, but can last up to 20 years, 30 years or even 40 years. Meanwhile, health monitoring products can only be used for 3-4 years.

The moderators of DSruptive Subdermals say this method of storing information is one of the company's experiments and will become a widely used product between now and early 2022.

While acknowledging that many see the implantation of an electronic chip as a "scary" method of personal monitoring, Mr Sjoblad said that people should instead treat it as an identification card (ID). simple. These devices do not have batteries, cannot transmit data on their own, so they do not monitor the user's location but are only activated when touched with a smartphone. The transplant is completely voluntary for everyone, he said.

Although the method is not yet popular, thousands of people in Sweden have opted to implant electronic devices under their skin in recent years. The above method has eliminated the need to memorize information such as smart keys, business cards, public transport cards and, most recently, vaccination cards.

It is expected that thousands of people in Sweden will support and initially apply this new form of Covid-19 certification.