Last update: September 2nd, 2021.
New York state launched the first state-wide COVID pass in the United States back in March, and the pass has become essential to residents.
The Excelsior Pass is a safe and secure digital platform. It has been streamlined across most of the state, allowing residents and visitors to regain easy access to public spaces.
The pass is also now known as “Excelsior Pass Plus” after recent updates have made the app more universally acceptable.
Vaccine passports in the US have generated conflicting opinions, with certain States implementing them and others banning them altogether.
How does the Excelsior Pass work?
The Excelsior Pass system has been made simple and accessible to promote data safety and ease of use. It is also available in 10 languages to ensure inclusivity.
Vaccinated residents can download the Excelsior Wallet mobile app from Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store. The app will provide instructions for the user to generate a digital COVID pass with a unique QR code.
Users who wish to carry around a paper pass can visit the Excelsior website to generate a printable PDF.
There are three categories of COVID-19 passes on the Excelsior platform:
- Vaccination Pass: Fifteen days after a second dose has been administered, individuals can download the pass which is valid for 365 days.
- PCR Test Pass: Negative test results can be shown for three days after the test has been taken. It will expire at midnight on the third day.
- Antigen Test Pass: This pass is only valid for 6-hours after the antigen test has been taken.
Participating businesses will download the Excelsior verification app and scan QR codes presented on the user’s phone (or on a printed PDF).
The pass only contains the most basic information like the holder’s name, date of birth, and vaccination status or test results.
To ensure data protection in COVID passes, this information is not sent to third parties and the user’s location is not tracked.
What is the Excelsior Pass for?
The ‘Key to NYC’ mandate requires proof of vaccination for access to indoor entertainment, indoor dining, and indoor fitness.
Holders of the pass can attend dance events, sporting events, and live shows. In the early phases, the Excelsior Pass also enabled visits of certain tourist attractions, like the Empire State Building.
Starting August 17th, “you’ll need proof of vaccination to unlock everything New York City has to offer”, tweeted mayor Bill de Blasio. Valid ways to prove full vaccination include:
- Paper CDC card
- Excelsior Pass
- NYC COVID Safe App
- Any official vaccine record
Businesses can accept other forms of proof, said de Blasio, like the NHS Covid Pass or the EU Digital COVID Certificate. This ensures that tourists are able to access indoor venues in NYC even if they can’t get their hands on a local COVID pass.
Is the ‘Excelsior Pass’ valid in Europe?
Yes, but only in certain countries. Vaccinated Americans should always check the travel restrictions in their country of destination.
The upgraded version, Excelsior Pass Plus, is compatible with SMART Health card systems, which in turn are compatible globally.
The Excelsior Pass can also be used to board American Airline flights to multiple destinations in Europe and beyond. These destinations include:
- Greece
- France
- Spain
- Italy
- The Bahamas
- El Salvador
- Germany
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Puerto Rico
Can tourists get an Excelsior Pass?
Tourists can get an Excelsior Pass only if they’ve received their vaccine or negative COVID test result in the NY state.
If the vaccination was received outside of NY or NJ, your healthcare provider will have to manually enter your vaccination details into the New York Immunization Database which connects to the Excelsior system.
Technical issues with the Excelsior Pass
In recent accounts, the Excelsior Pass app accepted a photo of Mickey Mouse as proof of vaccination, but the issue with the image-uploading function has since been resolved.
Vinnie Esposito from Empire State Development pointed out that some vaccine providers in the state aren’t quickly updating their vaccination records. So the Excelsior system might not have the user’s vaccination status yet, even if they have a card that proves it.
Former Governor Cuomo’s spokesperson, Jennifer Givner, assured the public that there is a high success rate with the pass and that the issues have been minor.
“The overwhelming majority of users have a seamless experience using the app, resulting in hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers downloading passes, with more doing so each day”, said Givner.