Technologies
Leave your COVID vaccine card at home: 8 safe ways to store it on your phone
You may need to show proof you are vaccinated to enter many restaurants, gyms and event venues or even the office, as the delta variant spreads. Here’s how to keep your vaccine information handy while leaving the paper card back at home.
With new vaccine mandates that span government workers and school districts to larger employers, the need to keep your COVID-19 vaccine card handy becomes more and more important. That goes for kids, too, who shortly may be eligible for the vaccine.
And it’s not just at the federal level. Cities and counties across the country are requiring proof of vaccination to attend live indoor events and enter gyms, restaurants and bars.
The vaccines continue to be highly effective in preventing hospitalization. Over the summer, as the delta variant spread across the US, the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths climbed. Unvaccinated people have accounted for nearly all the hospitalizations and deaths — over 97% as of July. With the federal mandates, the Biden administration aims to stem the surge and put pressure on those who are eligible but not yet vaccinated.
That rectangular paper card you received when you were vaccinated will suffice to prove that you’re vaccinated. (And if there’s still room on the card, it can show you got a booster shot from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson when those are available.)
But what if you lose it, or it’s damaged or stolen? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t have a record of your vaccination status. We do know how to get a new vaccine card if yours is lost or damaged.
Rather than carrying around the card — or laminating it, which prevents your health care provider from updating it with future booster shots — take a few minutes to add a digital copy of your vaccination card to your phone. Here are a few options I’ve found while researching how to safely store mine.
There isn’t one approved way to show proof of your vaccination card
The US doesn’t have a single online system or app you can use to show proof of vaccination on your phone. Instead, what qualifies as proof varies by city, county and even business. Some places may accept a picture of your vaccination card; others may require you to use an app that’s authorized at state level.
It’s a confusing mess, to put it mildly. I strongly urge you to take a few minutes to research what your city, county or state will accept as proof, as it can vary.
For example, concert producer AEG Presents will accept a «physical copy of a COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, a digital copy of such card or such other proof as is permitted locally.»
Along with school mandates, many colleges are are also requiring students and employees to be vaccinated. Seattle University, for example, requires students to be vaccinated to attend in-person classes via an online form that uploads photos of the front and back of the vaccination card.
When in doubt, look for information on the business’s website, or call the local health department and ask for clarification. This is bound to save you time, headaches and being turned away at the door.
Have an iPhone or an Android phone? Here’s an easy way to save your card
If you have an iPhone, with an update coming soon for iOS 15 you’ll be able to add your vaccine card to your Apple Wallet to present to whenever you need to show you’re fully vaccinated. (You can keep a copy in the Health app right now.)
Over on Android, you can add your vaccine card to the Google Pay app. I need to remind myself each time where my card is in Google Pay, so I added a shortcut icon to my home screen to quickly find it.
Own a Samsung phone? There’s an app just for you
Samsung now gives Galaxy phone owners the option to add proof of vaccination to Samsung Pay,its wallet app. By having direct access to your vaccination record, youwon’t have to fiddle around with creating photo albums and tappingthrough multiple screens before you’re able to show it to a bouncer atyour local watering hole.
To add your card to Samsung Pay, you’ll need to download the CommonHealth app(Samsung’s partner) from the Google Play Store. Follow the prompts inthe app to verify your vaccination status. Once the app confirms you’veindeed gotten the shots, you’ll be prompted to download a Smart HealthCard to Samsung Pay.
That card is what you’ll then show to anyone requesting you show proof of vaccination.
Use your phone to take a clear photo of your card
Is that too much fuss? The simplest way to have a digital record of your vaccine status is to snap a picture of your vaccination card and keep it on your phone. The CDC even recommends keeping a picture of your card as a backup copy.
Simply use the camera app on your phone to snap the photo. You can favorite the photo to quickly locate it or store it in a notes app, a folder or somewhere that’s easy to remember so you don’t have to endlessly scroll your camera roll to find it. Make sure you’re in a well-lit area and get close enough to the card that its dates and details are legible. I also suggest putting the card on a dark surface, while remaining conscious of shadows of your arms or the phone on the card itself.
Here’s an example of one way to save your vaccination card as a new photo album. On an iPhone, open the Photos app, select the Albums tab and then tap the + sign in the top left corner followed by New Album. Give the album a name and then tap Save. Next, select the photos of your card to add it to the album.
On an Android phone, it depends on which app you’re using, but the process should generally be the same. If you’re using the Google Photos app, open the app and then select the picture of your vaccination card. Tap the three-dot menu button in the top-right corner, followed by the Add to Album button. Select +New album and give it a name such as «Vaccination Card» and tap the checkmark button when you’re done.
Excelsior and more: Look for apps based on your location
Some states — including California, Colorado, Hawaii, New York and Oregon — offer some form of digital vaccination card. The myColorado app requires you to create an account, verify your identity and then add your digital driver’s license to your phone. After you’ve done that, you can then add your myVaccine record to the app.
Louisiana’s LA Wallet app takes a similar approach to Colorado’s, allowing you to add your driver’s license and proof of vaccination to your phone.
California’s implementation requires you to fill out a form to verify your identity, after which you’ll receive a text message or email with a link to a QR code you can save to your phone. When scanned, the code will offer proof of vaccination. The link will also include a digital copy of your vaccination record.
MyIR Mobile is another app used by several state health departments to provide a digital copy of your vaccination card. Currently, if you live in Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Dakota, Washington, West Virginia or Washington, DC, this is the app you’ll use.
More options to create and store your digital vaccination card
I’ve had a large number of readers reach out to me about this article, each one offering advice and guidance about storing a proof of vaccination card.
Some suggestions include well-known airport security service Clear. In fact, some concert and exhibition halls are requiring attendees use Clear to verify their vaccination status to attend a show. You can go to clearme.com/healthpass to download the app and get your card added.
VaxYes is another service that verifies your vaccination status and then adds your vaccination card to Apple Wallet. I’ve read that you can add your card to the Google Pay app, but after signing up and going through the process myself, I don’t see the option on a Pixel 5 running Android 12.
If your local municipality or employer used the CDC’s Vaccine Administration Management System, then you can use the VAMS website to access your vaccination records. I had more than one reader reach out to me about using this system to show proof of vaccination, but without an account myself, I’m unable to go through the process of accessing a vaccination record.
Another suggestion I received from multiple readers is to use a scanner app on your phone and store a scanned copy of your vaccination card in something like your OneDrive personal vault or a password manager (almost all of them offer some sort of secure file storage) instead of storing the photo in Google Photos or Apple’s iCloud photos. On an iPhone, you can use the scanner that’s built into the Notes app. On Android, Google’s Stack PDF scanner will be enough to get the job done.
This story updates as the national vaccine conversation continues. For more information about the forthcoming booster shots, make sure to read this. We have up-to-date details about the delta variant, as well as delta plus and the lambda variant.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 28, #993
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 28 #993
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is pretty tricky. Both the blue and the purple categories really require you to look for hidden connections. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: When you really want something.
Green group hint: Flight attendants also.
Blue group hint: What’s your name?
Purple group hint: Stars and space.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Craving.
Green group: Jobs that involve traveling.
Blue group: Name homophones.
Purple group: Astronomical terms plus a letter.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is craving. The four answers are desire, itch, thirst and urge.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is jobs that involve traveling. The four answers are cruise director, pilot, roadie and salesman.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is name homophones. The four answers are earnest, kneel, rustle and tailor.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is astronomical terms plus a letter. The four answers are cometh (comet), Novak (nova), start (star) and sung (sun).
Toughest Connections puzzles
We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.
#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.
#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.
#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.
#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.
#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.
Technologies
MWC Barcelona 2026: All the New Tech, Phones, Wearables and AI We Expect to See
This year’s Mobile World Congress starts Monday and will be packed with reveals from Xiaomi, Honor, Nvidia and more.
Every year, the moment we witness the very earliest signs of spring, CNET takes its cue to decamp to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress.
This is the world’s most important mobile show, and one of the most exciting events in the tech calendar. This year, we’re sending a bigger team to bring you all the news from the show as it happens.
It’s set to be a bonanza of new phones and wearables, with the odd robot thrown in for good measure. Sure, some of the fun tech we see at MWC never makes it out into the wider world, but we’ve also seen some of our most beloved tech debut at the show over the years — so expect a little of both.
Big themes are set to include AI and 6G, and with keynotes from SpaceX and Qualcomm, we’ll no doubt get a solid glimpse of the future of mobile. With Gemini in everything and satellite dominance on the horizon, it’s an exciting time for the industry.
Here’s more of what we expect to see.
What are the key dates for MWC?
MWC 2026 is set to run from March 2 to 5, although we’ll be in town a couple of days beforehand to report on some of the big launch events scheduled for this weekend. Don’t miss Xiaomi’s launch event on Feb. 28 and Honor’s event on March 1.
How to watch along
No matter how far away you live from Spain, there’s no need to feel like you’re missing out. The best place for all the latest MWC news is on our CNET live blog.
We’ve been attending this show for decades (this is MWC’s 20th year in Barcelona, by the way), and we have a team of experienced reporters and reviewers on the ground.
We’ll show you everything we deem interesting and important, and we’re not just admiring new products from afar. We’re touching, tinkering with and trying not to drop them, so be sure to follow us across Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube, too.
What phones to expect at MWC 2026
For the past few years, Chinese phone-makers have dominated MWC, and 2026 looks to be no different.
The first big phone launch event is scheduled for 6 a.m. PT Saturday, Feb. 28, when we expect Xiaomi to unveil its latest camera-focused flagship. We loved the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and the 14 Ultra before it, so we’re excited to see what the company has in store for us. A teaser image hints at its partnership with premium camera brand Leica and promises a «new wave of imagery.»
Next up, we have Honor on Sunday, March 1, when the company has said it will unveil its Magic V6 phone, alongside the MagicPad 4 and MagicBook Pro 14. Perhaps more exciting still, Honor has said it will give us a first glimpse of a working version of its Robot Phone, and will also unveil a humanoid robot at its event.
For other phone-makers, MWC is likely to serve as more of a victory lap for its existing devices — particularly Samsung, which held its own event in San Francisco this week to unveil the flagship S26 series. Motorola will be in town, likely showing off its Razr, which just like the Samsung Galaxy TriFold, has yet to be seen much in Europe.
On the whole, MWC 2026 is likely to be a big show for foldable phones, which, according to Ben Wood, CMO and chief analyst at CCS Insight, «is now becoming quite a mature category.»
Another major trend in the phone space is likely to be a focus on batteries, particularly silicon carbon-based tech, Wood said in an MWC preview session. «We’re expecting to see phones with some of the biggest batteries we’ve seen for a long time, [with] fast charging — perhaps 300-watt charging — being introduced,» he added.
What other tech to expect at MWC 2026
After the early flops that were the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1, we’re seeing more companies moving to jump on the wearable AI bandwagon. We expect to see a number of devices and demos pop up at MWC — perhaps trying to beat OpenAI and Jony Ive to the punch.
This will include AI- and AR-based glasses, said CCS Insight analyst Ben Hatton during the firm’s briefing session. «We are expecting to see a huge number of glasses on show this year, not just from Meta, but also from the smaller players, [like] TCL and Oppo, looking to take a slice of the pie,» he said.
One of the key challenges for these companies will be differentiation, Hatton said. «Ultimately, there’s still a long way to go before these become generally mass market products,» he added, pointing out that at this stage, compelling use cases are still a bit thin on the ground.
It’s been two years since Samsung launched the Galaxy Ring at MWC, and smart rings have been fairly thin on the ground ever since — although Oura CEO Tom Hale is slated to speak at the show. We’re not necessarily expecting to see any new rings this year, but there’s always an outside chance.
Much more likely to show up are a slew of new laptops and tablets. They rarely get top billing at MWC, but we’ll keep an eye out for the most exciting launches. There’s also likely to be some intriguing concepts on show from the likes of Lenovo and Samsung Display, which is responsible for the tech behind the new Galaxy S26 Ultra’s scene-stealing Privacy Display.
The big themes: AI, 6G and beyond
No surprises here that AI will, of course, be a major theme at MWC. For the past few years, Google has dominated the AI conversation at the event by showcasing Gemini’s capabilities and its widespread integration. Will this year be any different? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean the AI conversation has stalled.
We expect to see more sophisticated AI agents that are more deeply integrated into wearables, offering live translation, more actionable health insights and more personalized experiences. Some of the biggest players in the AI game will be present, including Nvidia and Qualcomm, on the hardware side. They’ll likely have saved some juicy announcements for the show and, hopefully, have some exciting demos we can try out.
Wind the clock back a decade, and everyone was talking about 5G and what a dramatic difference it was going to make to our lives. Now that 5G is old news, we’re looking forward to 6G. Most discussions about 6G so far have focused on its impact on the industry, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be excited about.
At the Web Summit in November, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told me that 6G will make our phones faster than ever and connect us to an «always-sensing network.» This could include wearables, smart devices, cars and even robots. No doubt, Amon will expound on this subject further during his MWC keynote, which is all about 6G and AI.
Another theme likely to be prevalent at the show is the role of satellites in enhancing network connectivity. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell will be on stage to talk about Starlink, and all the world’s biggest carriers will have their own booths where they’ll show us what they’re doing to tap into the latest network technologies.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Feb. 28
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 28.
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? As is usual for Saturday, it’s pretty long, and should take you longer than the normal Mini. A bunch of three-initial terms are used in this one. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Rock’s ___ Leppard
Answer: DEF
4A clue: Cry a river
Answer: SOB
7A clue: Clean Air Act org.
Answer: EPA
8A clue: Org. that pays the Bills?
Answer: NFL
9A clue: Nintendo console with motion sensors
Answer: WII
10A clue: ___-quoted (frequently said)
Answer: OFT
11A clue: With 13-Across, narrow gap between the underside of a house and the ground
Answer: CRAWL
13A clue: See 11-Across
Answer: SPACE
14A clue: Young lady
Answer: GAL
15A clue: Ooh and ___
Answer: AAH
17A clue: Sports org. for Scottie Scheffler
Answer: PGA
18A clue: «Hey, just an F.Y.I. …,» informally
Answer: PSA
19A clue: When doubled, nickname for singer Swift
Answer: TAY
20A clue: Socially timid
Answer: SHY
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Morning moisture
Answer: DEW
2D clue: «Game of Thrones» or Homer’s «Odyssey»
Answer: EPICSAGA
3D clue: Good sportsmanship
Answer: FAIRPLAY
4D clue: White mountain toppers
Answer: SNOWCAPS
5D clue: Unrestrained, as a dog at a park
Answer: OFFLEASH
6D clue: Sandwich that might be served «triple-decker»
Answer: BLT
12D clue: Common battery type
Answer: AA
14D clue: Chat___
Answer: GPT
16D clue: It’s for horses, in a classic joke punchline
Answer: HAY
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