MANILA, Philippines — The government’s pandemic task force has approved requests for COVID-19 digital vaccination certificates, through VaxCertPH, for domestic use.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a virtual briefing Friday said Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases approved this in its resolution no. 146.
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“All local governments that do not have any electronic vaccine administration systems shall be required to adopt and use the [Department of Information and Communications Technology] Vaccine Administration System for recording and databasing of all vaccination information,” Roque said in Filipino.
VaxCert was launched in September to address the lack of uniformity in vaccination certificates. Prior to this, DICT’s VaxCertPH only issues digital vaccination certificates to overseas Filipino workers and those who intend to travel abroad.
He added that the IATF tasked the DICT to provide bi-weekly updates to Regional Vaccination Operation Centers, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and other stakeholders on the regional status of submission compliance of vaccination data to the Vaccine Information Management System (VICM) database.
The DICT is also directed to work closely with local government units to improve their submission of vaccination data.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government, meanwhile, was asked to reiterate its memorandum stressing to LGUs the importance of submission of accurate and timely vaccination data. This includes data rectification efforts, Roque added.
The IATF move comes as the Department of Tourism reported this week that some LGUs with jurisdiction over tourist destinations scrapped negative RT-PCR test results as requirements for fully-vaccinated travelers.
Some LGUs, meanwhile, have also scrapped COVID-19 test requirements but ask tourists to present their vaccination certificates from VaxCertPH.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat has also been pushing for looser restrictions and fewer requirements in areas with high vaccination rates among locals and tourism workers. — Kristine Joy Patag