DICT eyes COVID-19 vaccine certificate issuance by early August

A tricycle driver receives his first Moderna shot during a vaccination drive held at Camarin D Elementary School in Caloocan City. PHOTO COURTESY OF CALOOCAN PIO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is eyeing to launch the distribution of COVID-19 vaccination certificates – which holders can use for international travel – by early August, an official said Saturday.

Local government units (LGUs) were given until July 31 to submit to the DICT their list of fully-vaccinated individuals, DICT Undersecretary Manny Caintic said during a Laging Handa briefing.

“Kung mai-submit na ng mga LGUs and kanilang mga listahan come July 31, pwede na tayong mag-issue ng vaccine certificate at pwede ‘yan gamitin for international travel,” he said.

(Once the LGUs are able to submit their list come July 31, we can start issuing the vaccine certificates, which can be used for international travel.)

“Ang atin pong hinihintay is magkaroon ng sapat na datos galing sa mga LGU. By August, early August, pwede na nating ilunsad ang vaccine certificate para nang sa ganon, ‘pag mag-request naman ang isang tao ng vaccine certificate, nandoon ang record niya most likely,” he added.

(We’re just waiting for enough data from the LGU. By August, early August, we can launch the distribution of vaccine certificates so that those who will request for one, their record will be there most likely.)

Meanwhile, the DICT official said a “grievance mechanism” will be put in place so that vaccinated individuals, whose records were not registered into the system for the release of vaccine certificates, can request their LGUs to upload their data.

Caintac, meanwhile, assured vaccination certificate holders that the document cannot be easily duplicated or tampered with as each one having its own unique QR code.

Private companies

Employees who received vaccines provided by their private companies are also eligible for a vaccination certificate, according to Caintic.

The private company simply needs to submit the list of their vaccinated employees to the LGU where their workers were inoculated, he said.

“For example, mayroon kang isang call center sa BGC (Bonifacio Global City), kung nagbakuna sila ng mga empleyado, isusumite sa Taguig LGU, isa-submit ng Taguig sa DICT para mabilang sa list requirement,” he added.

(For example, you have a call center in BGC, if you vaccinate your employees, you will submit a list to the LGU of Taguig then Taguig will submit the list requirement to the DICT.)

/MUF