Keep tight watch of public, private data in vaccination cards, LGUs told

A vaccination card issued by Taguig City to inoculated individuals. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe on Thursday reminded local government units (LGUs) to ensure that a reliable system and tight record-keeping is implemented in their issuance of vaccination cards.

“As the rollout of the vaccines against COVID-19 gathers pace, we trust that local government units have installed a reliable system in place to identify those who have been inoculated against the virus,” Poe said in a statement.

“Tight record-keeping and documentation should complement the vaccination cards to guarantee that the sensitive health data of our people are secure,” she added.

Poe said the vaccine record in paper issued to inoculated citizens should have “integrity and protection against manipulation and abuse” though a standard digital certificate is “ideal.”

“The vaccine cards will play a key role in reestablishing our global connectivity, facilitating travels and employment, and reviving the economy to help our people turn the corner,” Poe said.

In January, Poe filed a bill that would authorize the Health secretary to issue “vaccine passports” to Filipino citizens as proof that the holder is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Travelers were recently warned against forging COVID-19 vaccination cards, reminding the public that falsification of public documents is punishable by law.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health said travelers may still need to present negative COVID-19 test results as the government is still trying to establish a policy for the use of vaccination cards.

The Philippines administered a total of 12,489,777 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 9,399,801 first doses and 3,089,976 fully vaccinated citizens as of July 7. — Faith Yuen Wei Ragasa, trainee

EDV