Vax data ‘audit’ of health workers pushed

MANILA, Philippines — A medical doctor sought an ‘audit’ of the vaccination records of healthcare workers, the foremost recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines but whose data seem to be missing in the government’s database.

Dr. Benjamin Co, an infectious diseases specialist, said many doctors, nurses and other hospital employees who received their shots in late February to March had yet to see their names in the VaxCertPh portal.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of Health announced a soft launch of the VaxCertPh portal on Sept. 6 for the issuance of vaccination certificates for residents and overseas workers in Metro Manila and Baguio City.

Emmanuel Caintic, undersecretary of the DICT, said the full implementation would be in October.

Co said a database was crucial if the government were to roll out booster doses with health-care workers as the priority.

“That will be troublesome. Who do we give the booster to if you want to roll out boosters? You are not [even] listed,” he said in an online interview.

On the other hand, a poor database allows opportunists to take multiple doses by simply enlisting in different local governments or private vaccination sites.

In the case of health workers inoculated during the initial and symbolic vaccinations, Co said they were given only “a small piece of paper that tells us we got the shot in the hospital. That’s it.”