Vaccine Card Fashion Is Here

As COVID cases rise due to the Delta variant, some businesses like restaurants and music venues (including those owned by AEG) are requiring proof of vaccination for entry.

That means that the vaccine card just became an even more important possession. A few months ago, we wrote about how vaccine card holders would be a necessary accessory in the case of booster shots, especially since experts warned against laminating your cards.

But what about a T-shirt that acts as your vaccine card holder?

The fashion/tech company Cala just introduced a $38 T-shirt that displays the wearer’s vaccine card.

https://twitter.com/BIAUS/status/1423756136239538182

Cala CEO Andrew Wyatt was inspired by a masks run in New York City, during which he said he got some angry stares from others.

“I noticed that everyone I passed would glare at me and adjust their masks,” he told Business Insider. “I thought, ‘If only there was a way to easily show I was vaccinated.”

The T-shirt has a clear, zippered sleeve on the chest where a breast pocket would typically be. It’s the perfect size for a CDC vaccination card, and is a lot safer than carrying it in your pants pocket during a night out.

If Cala is successful with the shirt, Wyatt thinks it can expand to other product categories that showcase a CDC vax card, like lanyards, armbands and fanny packs for the gym, or zip-up jackets for once things cool off in the fall.

“As we see travel restrictions ebb and flow based on each country’s policy, I also think garments such as these will be great for travel,” he told Business Insider. “It seems like a no-brainer to incorporate this into work uniforms in some way.”

Businesses that require employees to be vaccinated could use these shirts as part of their uniform to keep customers at ease. And, if people wear them out, it makes it easy for “Vaccine Bouncers” at the door to discern who can come in or not, especially in crowded venues like concerts.

If proof of vaccination becomes required for more travel and entry to more businesses across the world, the vaccine card will become the most important accessory people own. The second-most important would be the item that holds it.