MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos are not required to have an identification number issued by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to receive COVID-19 shots, the Department of Health said.
The DOH issued the clarification Tuesday after the state health insurer urged the public to know and have their PhilHealth Identification Number (PIN) ready “to avoid delays and problems during vaccination.”
“The Department of Health clarifies that PIN is not a requirement to register for and receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and is only required when claiming benefits in cases of adverse events following immunization (AEFI),” the DOH said.
AEFI refers to any untoward medical occurrence which follows vaccination and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the use of vaccine.
To ensure coverage of non-PhilHealth members who experience serious side effects, the DOH will set up registration booths at official vaccination sites.
Memorandum 2021-0999 of the DOH states that “all potential vaccine recipient shall be registered using their unique identifiers as identified during the masterlisting process such as but not limited to full name and birthday, PhilHealth Identification Number, system generated alphanumeric or QR or unique codes, or similar.”
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. also said those who will receive vaccines can present any ID.
“They can use all their IDs and we saw that PhilSys is also mobilizing its units to catch up with our vaccination program. There will be no problem for as long as there is pre-screening and pre-listing so we can validate if they are from the area. They can also use office IDs,” Galvez said in a briefing Tuesday.
The DOH also stressed that all Filipinos are automatic members of PhilHealth, regardless if they are direct or indirect contributors, under the Universal Health Care Law.
Some 650,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 almost a month since the start of the government’s vaccination program. The government is aiming to inoculate up to 70 million this year alone.