The Department of Health announced Friday that Filipinos who will be vaccinated against the new coronavirus would be given a COVID-19 passport.
“Itong vaccine passport na ito, meron po tayo. Magkakaroon po tayo ng ganyan, and as we have said in the previous na mga pag-uusap, magkakaroon po tayo ng data registry for all recipients,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press briefing.
(We will have a vaccine passport, and as we have said in previous talks, we will have a data registry for all recipients.)
Vergeire also said a QR code will be given to those who would receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
“This would be something of a unique identifier for a specific person who will receive the vaccine, and dito magkakaroon din po sila ng card na nagsasabi na sila ay nabakunahan, either with one dose or two doses. This will serve as their certificate that they have been vaccinated,” she added.
(This will be a unique identifier for a specific person who will receive the vaccine, and they will have a card that will indicate that they have been vaccinated, either with one or two doses.)
Filipinos to be issued COVID-19 passport – DOH
In December 2020, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) welcomed proposals to introduce a COVID-19 passport for international travelers, saying it will speed up immigration processing at the airports and facilitate the revival of tourism and travel industry in the country.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente expressed the Bureau’s support for initiatives to create a global COVID-19 passport that, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT), would usher in the entry of more tourists as it would streamline entry procedures.
“The anticipated influx of more international travelers could result in longer queues and overcrowding in our immigration counters as all of these passengers should be tested at the airport before they are allowed to enter the country,” the BI chief said.
He observed that with the use of COVID-19 passport support evidencing that a traveler was vaccinated and is free of the virus, the conduct of immigration formalities for arriving passengers would be faster and easier and people congestion at the airports would be lessened, if not avoided.