By Rey Anthony Chiu | 07:27 AM February 13, 2022
Before some vaccinated individuals could secure their official vaccination certificates as a tangible government-authenticated proof of full protection from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), an updated vaccination certificate (vaxcert) with new features is now available.
VaxCert, or better known as VaxCertPH is the digital vaccination certificate for Filipinos and even non Filipinos vaccinated in the Philippines which can be used for domestic and international travel, as it complies with the World Health Organization’s guidelines on the Digital Documentation of Covid- 19 certificates.
Now made into a centralized database of all vaccination lists from different local government units simultaneously doing vaccination operations, the data, when uploaded gets into the government’s Vaccine Information management System at the VaxCert portal.
In Bohol, while the full implementation of the computer generated and Department of Health (DOH) authenticated vaccination certificate is still put on hold for connectivity and updating issues, the earlier executive order mandating the use of the vaccination certificate, has pushed several vaccinated individuals to generate their certificates from the vaxcert.doh.gov.ph website.
In several instances, where local government units’ vaccination teams failed to update their vaccination data in real time, requests for the vaccine certificate stalled, keeping many from traveling for inability to generate the much-needed travel document.
This then pushed local officials to temporarily suspend the vaccination certificate and allow the use of the vaccination cards instead, as proof of vaccination for travel and entry to some business establishments that demand vaccination for their patrons.
The down side for the vaccination card however is that the document can be easily faked, admits authorities who have accosted individuals brandishing the tampered documents for travel.
The vaxcert, it bearing a unique QR code, can be scanned through a QR Code scanner and the validation of the document and its bearer is fast and always accurate, according to border control officials who have now resorted to an easily faked vaccination card to check on entry of individuals across border.
The introduction of the booster shot, however demands an update for the old vaccination certificate.
In fact, for those who have already generated their vaccination certificates before February 7, 2022, the Department of Health has urged them to request the newest updated version of the vaccination certificate which can be used as the official validated and authenticated proof vaccination document.
The government health advisory also come with a fair notice: the Quick Response Code of the previously requested and digitally generated vaccination certificates will become outdated and unreadable.
How does one get his digital vaccination certificate?
He has to go to https://vaxcert.doh.gov.ph and request the vaccination certificate. Newly vaccinated Individuals would need over 48 hours after inoculation since this allows the data to get into the database.
One has to read and agree on the privacy statement, to validly continue with the request.
Enter one’s personal information and vaccination details including name, birthdate, number of doses, location, date of vaccination and the additional vaccination (booster dose) which must match the details on the vaccination card.
A 7-character security code is generated, this one must enter before one can proceed to generate the vaccination certificate.
One can either download the certificate, take a screen shot or print it for easy access in the future.
Those who do not have an access on the online portal may also generate their vaxcert with the help of the local vaccination operations center personnel. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)