The government is targeting to start the issuance of digital coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination certificate to fully inoculated individuals by early September, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said.

DICT Undersecretary Manny Caintic said the department is eyeing to launch the “VaxCertPh” by the first week of September as the system developed by the agency for the project is now ready.

But he noted that the DICT is still awaiting for local government units (LGUs) to complete the training of personnel who will help with questions or concerns of the public regarding the certificate.

“Ang target po namin ay first week of September. Pero ngayon po, ang aming inaalala lang is gusto namin magkaroon ng sapat na training muna ang ating mga LGUs para hindi sila mabulaga kung biglang dagsain sila ng mga tanong at mga tulong ng ating mga mamamayan (Our target is the first week of September. But now, our only concern is that we want our LGUs to have enough training first so that they will not be overwhelmed if they are suddenly overwhelmed by questions and help from our citizens),” Caintic said.

“Okay na ang system, handa na siya sana at naka-integrate na ito sa World Health Organization countries kaso lang, gusto lang natin ng sapat na panahon para magkaroon ng kumpiyansa ang ating mga LGUs (The system is okay, it is now ready and it is already integrated with the World Health Organization countries, but we just need enough time for our LGUs),” he added.

Caintic assured that the data collected for the certificate will be protected, and will be managed by the DICT and the Department of Health (DOH).

“Iyong atinng vaccine information data ay talagang iisa lang ang source at ito’y pinuproteksyunan natin sa pagtutulungan namin. At ang pag-issue ng vaccine certificate ay private key encrypted at ito’y hawak na hawak lang ng Department of Health (Our vaccine information data is really the only source and we protect it through our cooperation. And the issuance of the vaccine certificate is private key encrypted and it is handled only by the Department of Health),” he explained.

The digital vaccination certificate will contain an individual’s name and the date and place of vaccination, as well as the brand of the vaccine administered.

“Kapag nag-match, agad-agaran niya makukuha iyong kaniyang vaccine certificate; kung hindi man, may contact center na tatawag sa kanila at aalalayan sila para makuha ito (When it is a match, you will immediately get your vaccine certificate; otherwise, a contact center will call them and help them get it),” Caintic said.

Once the VaxCertPH portal goes operational, fully vaccinated individuals can request their digital certificates by providing the details of their vaccination.

“Ang panibagong standard na ito ay iyong isinaad ng World Health para nga magamit sa iba’t-ibang bansa (This new standard has been set by the World Health for the use in various countries),” he said.

Ang kagandahan ng digital certificate eh makakasigurado ang ibang bansa na ito ay issued by the country’s ministry of health (The good thing of the digital certificate is that other countries can make sure that it is issued by the country’s ministry of health),” he added.