Swift digitalization of vaccination cards eyed —presidential adviser Concepcion

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion on Saturday recommended a fast track of digitalization of vaccination cards for easier access to establishments, as well as domestic and foreign travel.

"Itong mga bakuna card dito sa LGU, okay naman ito. Pero eventually kailangan maging digital ito, at isang look para kung gamitin natin dito sa domestic at foreign travels ay madaling ma-verify kung fake or not," Concepcion said at the Laging Handa briefing.

(These vaccine cards here from the local government units are okay. But eventually they have to be digitalized, with a uniform look so in case we use it for domestic and foreign travels, it can be easily verified if they are fake or not.)

Concepcion said digitalization of vaccination cards will be handled by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). 

"Pero sana madaliin natin ito kasi ang pinu-push ng private sector ay ang mga kumuha ng bakuna ang dapat mabigyan ng greater mobility," Concepcion said.

(I hope we can speed it up because the private sector is pushing that those who were vaccinated should be given greater mobility.)

Quarantine period for inbound travelers to the Philippines who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has been shortened to seven days from 14 but only if they got vaccinated in the country.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said an RT-PCR test on an inbound traveler to the Philippines who is fully vaccinated will only be done when the individual manifests COVID-19 symptoms within the seven-day quarantine.

Concepcion said this should also be implemented for domestic travel.

"Pero dapat gawin natin ito eventually sa domestic travel, malaking bagay ito sa pagbukas ng economy. 'Yung mga taong kumuha ng bakuna, wala nang PCR test kasi pagbiyahe nila sa tourist destinations, malaking savings din 'yan," he said.

(We should do it eventually with domestic travel. It’s a big thing in opening up the economy. It would be huge savings for those who got inoculated to no longer be required to have their PCR tests.) 

The Philippines’ tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,255,337 on Friday after the Department of Health reported 7,450 new infections. —KG, GMA News