Swedish startup Epicenter unveils rice-sized microchip implant that stores your COVID vaccine passport under your skin and is read with technology used to take contactless payments

Stacy Liberatore – December 20, 2021

Epicenter, a Stockholm-based startup, unveiled a new way of carrying around a COVID vaccine passport – in a microchip implanted under your skin.

The implant can be read by any device using the near-field communication (NFC) protocol – technology used for contactless payments and keyless entry systems.

In a video shared by Epicenter, Hannes Sjöblad, chief distribution officer, has the chip in his arm and simply waves a smartphone over it to pull up his vaccination status.

‘Implants are very versatile technology that can be used for many different things, and right now it is very convenient to have COVID passport always accessible on your implant, he said in a statement.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic.

From then, the virus took hold of the world – shuttering businesses and forcing people into their homes for months.

Although lockdowns have since eased worldwide, the coronavirus is still running rampant and is mutating into new variants that are harder to stop from spreading.

However, the world now has access to vaccines, which eases symptoms of the deadly virus, and information of vaccine status is provided in paper or digital form known as a COVID passport.

Many venues, restaurants, bars, concert halls and museums, across the US are requiring visitors present their vaccination status in order to enter the building.

And Epicenter wants to make presenting this information as easy as possible.

‘In case your phone runs out of battery, it’s always accessible to you. So of course, that’s how we use this technology today, next year we are going to use it for something else,’ said Sjoblad.

The microchip sits directly beneath the skin, either in the arm or between the thumb and forefinger.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk

New “Pandemic Potential” Brain-Destroying-Virus With 75% Death Rate Spreading In India

Summit News – September 7, 2021

A different virus classified by the World Health Organisation as having ‘pandemic potential’ is spreading more than usual due to care shortages caused by COVID.

The London Telegraph reports that the Nipah virus, which attacks the brain and has an up to 75% fatality rate, has killed a twelve year old boy who was shunted around five different hospitals because of COVID.

It is believed that the boy came into contact with close to 200 people, with two health workers and the boys mother already in isolation after developing the symptoms, which are similar to those of COVID.

The Nipah virus has been known since 1998, but has been contained, with the worst outbreak occurring twenty years ago in West Bengal when 45 out of 66 people infected with the virus died.

The bat-borne virus was the inspiration for the movie Contagion, and while more deadly than COVID it spreads less efficiently.

Health authorities in Kerala where the boy died are urging people to get tested for Nipah, with lockdowns being implemented in the surrounding regions.

“People should continue to wear masks and practice social distancing to stop the Nipah virus from spreading. In hospitals, doctors and nurses can also wear PPE,” said Kerla doctor Arun N Madhavan.

The Telegraph notes that “There are currently no drugs available to treat Nipah, although the WHO has identified the virus as a priority disease for the development of a vaccine.”

In June, The Oxford University team of virologists who developed the COVID AstraZeneca vaccine announced that they had made a “big step forward” in testing the Nipah vaccine.

https://summit.news