South Africans to get digital vaccine certificates

The Department of Health has announced that South Africans will receive a digital vaccination certificate to confirm that they have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The news comes in a statement from Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla on 10 September. The minister issued a statement during a virtual media briefing to provide an update on the country’s COVID-19 response.

In his statement, Minister Phaahla said that South Africa would not require a vaccination passport for travellers. However, he noted that this is required by some other countries.

“We are aware of the debate around the vaccination passport which is required by some counties for international travel,” Minister Phaahla said.

“In our case we still require only a less than 72 hours PCR COVID-19 test for traveling.”

He announced that the department has begun developing a digital vaccination certificate to ease the verification process for locals.

How will the South African digital vaccine certificate work?

Currently, those who receive their vaccines in South Africa get a physical vaccination card.

But the new digital certificate will be usable on smartphones.

“We have however commenced with the development of a digital vaccination certificate to confirm that a person has been vaccinated,” Minister Phaahla said.

“We have made sure that the certificate is protected from fraud and can be uploaded on your smartphone and is printable.”

He noted that the initiative is in line with the WHO’s attempts to standardize vaccine verification globally.

Read more: How to easily keep track of COVID-19 cases in South Africa

Feature image: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels