The Philippine government has started implementing its digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate or VaxCertPH yesterday, September 6, 2021, in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Baguio, specifically for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and certain travellers.
According to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Manny Caintic, the VaxCertPH had a great turnout at its soft launch yesterday in Navotas and other cities in NCR.
He said that they are focusing on those who have received their vaccination in the country as the Inter-Agency Task Force has yet to release guidelines in regards to the vaccination certification.
He explained that the digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate will only be available in the two areas because they are aiming to strengthen the system. And, encouraging the Local Government Units (LGUs) throughout the country to complete uploading the data of vaccinated individuals in their respective jurisdictions.
This is said to be one of the obstacles they are facing as not all areas in the country are fortunate enough to have all the needed equipment to religiously upload their data in the system.
Caintic also denied that the national government is late in creating this system as the Philippines is one of the countries to release COVID-19 vaccination certificates for its citizens.
He also clarified that this is a portal and not an application for individuals to get their vaccination certificate as some countries require proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It is not a vaccination passport nor a document to replace the national ID or PhilSys and the yellow card.
The DICT Undersecretary stated that it may be possible to open it nationwide by October.
