Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Monday mentioned Americans having digital access to their Covid vaccination standing can be useful in navigating the coronavirus pandemic within the months forward.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the previous Food and Drug Administration commissioner sought to downplay privateness worries on the coronary heart of opposition to verification necessities.

“The entire dialogue round vaccine passports has gotten swept up in a whole lot of considerations round whether or not or not it is going to be used to restrict folks’s access to issues that they might in any other case do,” mentioned Gottlieb, a board member of Pfizer, which makes one of many three Covid vaccines cleared for emergency use within the U.S. Vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are the opposite two. “The use case for this info is probably going to be enabling access to issues which might be in any other case going to be restricted.”

Gottlieb pointed to visitations at nursing houses or hospitals within the fall, when he mentioned he expects to see an uptick in coronavirus circumstances once more. This previous winter “nursing houses banned guests. Hospitals banned guests,” he mentioned. “You might see a scenario the place these establishments may permit folks to go to if they’ll reveal they have been vaccinated.”

Information on administered Covid vaccines is at present being entered into the identical system utilized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to observe pediatric vaccinations, Gottlieb defined. “The drawback with the system is it was by no means designed actually to be accessible to customers, so customers actually have no manner proper now to get the knowledge to show they have been vaccinated.”

The paper playing cards from the CDC folks at present obtain when getting their Covid photographs are unlikely to minimize it, both, he mentioned. “Those can be found on eBay proper now … so folks aren’t going to settle for the playing cards as proof of vaccination.”

That’s why digital documentation of Covid vaccine standing should be out there to Americans, he argued. “How they select to use it’s up to them,” mentioned the previous FDA chief from 2017 to 2019 within the Trump administration.

Efforts to develop digital Covid vaccine data are underway, together with a high-profile group backed by Microsoft and the Mayo Clinic referred to as the Vaccination Credential Initiative. The coalition mentioned earlier this month it hopes to make the know-how it develops out there in May.

IBM is working with New York State on a digital well being move that makes use of blockchain know-how to confirm an individual’s take a look at or vaccine credentials. Walmart, which is finishing up photographs in its shops, recently backed requires vaccine certificates.

The debate round so-called vaccine passports has grown contentious, as some critics increase civil liberty considerations. In Florida, for instance, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order earlier this month that forestalls companies from requiring an individual to provide present they’ve obtained a Covid vaccine as a prerequisite for service.

Last week, the Biden administration ruled out vaccine passports on the federal stage. White House press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned final Tuesday, “There shall be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everybody to receive a single vaccination credential.”

Gottlieb mentioned, “in sure restricted circumstances,” he anticipates folks needing to reveal they have been immunized in opposition to Covid. “So, I believe folks want to take into consideration this otherwise,” he added. “Right now, as customers, we do not personal this info, and we should.”

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech firm Aetion Inc. and biotech firm Illumina. He additionally serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean‘s “Healthy Sail Panel.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.