Tamper-proof digitised COVID-19 vaccination cards coming

Last Updated on Wednesday, 20 October 2021, 21:16 by Denis Chabrol

COVID-19 vaccination cards that police had said had been found in the possession of a Ministry of Health driver earlier this year.

Amid ongoing concerns that a number of healthcare workers have been providing paper-based COVID-19 vaccination cards to unvaccinated persons, the Health Ministry on Wednesday announced that plans are advanced to provide tamper-proof digital cards.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said India would be providing a system named COWIN to convert the paper-based cards to a digital format. “We are working with the Indian government to ensure that we can get the COWIN software and during this week we’ll be signing off the memorandum of understanding which would allow us to now get the COWIN software,” he said during his daily update.

Dr. Anthony explained that that software would be used to migrate the electronic data into that software to produce the cards. “These cards have certain features and people are not going to be able to forge them,” he said.

He said staff have been recruited and an area has been designated with the equipment. “That is an ongoing process,” he said. A number of nurses has been charged with providing COVID-19 vaccination cards to persons who had not taken a jab.

A number of sister Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states have already introduced digitised vaccination cards to avoid forgery.

Latest available figures show that so far 374,539 persons- 18 years and older- who have taken a first dose COVID-19 vaccine and 233,391 persons have taken a second dose jab.

The official statistics state that 26,554 persons between 12 and 18 years – or 36 percent of persons in that age range- have taken a first dose Pfizer vaccine and 16,802 percent or 23 percent have taken the second dose.