The government will issue a uniform certificate of vaccination to Filipinos who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to facilitate safe and smooth mobility, Malacanang said Friday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Intern-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases formed a sub-technical working group to form a national digital vaccination card.
The vaccine card aims to facilitate the smooth and safe movement of the vaccinated individuals in and out of the country.
“The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) was designated to lead the sub-Technical Working Group assigned to design the proposed national digital vaccination certificate and issue the related policies,” he said.
The IATF approved the constitution of a sub-Technical Working Group to design, deploy, support and recommend relevant policies related to the national certificate for COVID-19 vaccinations, otherwise known as VaxCertPH, Roque said.
The technical working group is composed of the Department of Health, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Tourism, Department of Transportation, Department of Labor and Employment, National Privacy Commission.
The government aims to launch the digital vaccine certificates by the first week of September.
The vaccine card will contain the person’s name, date and place of vaccination, and brand of the vaccine.
Local government units have issued their respective vaccine cards to people who received their inoculations.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health is finalizing the budget for next year’s vaccination program, including catch-up vaccination, and booster shots if needed.
“This will entail a budget for catch-up vaccination and booster shots if needed and scoping of second-generation vaccines,” the DOH said in response to questions from the media.
The DOH, however, clarified that as of this time, it did not recommend a third dose or booster shots as the majority of Filipinos have yet to receive their coronavirus disease 2019 shots.
Studies are being done to look at the “real-world effectiveness and safety” of booster shots.
This would include its duration of immunity, its effect on COVID-19 variants of concern, the feasibility of implementation through logistical requirements, and funding and supply negotiations.
It added the effectiveness and safety of vaccines through real-world effectiveness studies, Emergency Use Authorization, or Certificate of Product Registration from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration are also being considered.
