Digital Vaccination Card Officially Launched

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has launched the Digitisation of Jamaica’s COVID-19 Vaccination Card.

The digital card will be made available on the Ministry’s www.moh.gov.jm website.

It features a Quick Response (QR) code to enable the validation of the information on the card and of the person’s vaccination status.

The digital card is accessible via a mobile phone or other electronic device and provides for ease of travel as the QR code is readable on international platforms.  It also has the capacity to generate a new card on demand. The card can be downloaded or generated in printable format.

To access the Digital COVID-19 Vaccination Card, visit the ministry’s website, click on ‘Vaccination Resources’ where persons will be directed to the drop-down menu, ‘Get and Validate a COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate’. Follow the instructions provided to enter the requisite details to generate the card within 72 hours. The system allows for verification and update of information.

The digital card which is internationally accepted, was developed in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

Portfolio Minister Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton in his address at the virtual launch on Thursday (December 23), said the initiative forms part of ongoing efforts to enhance the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.

“It is global, it is accepted and it will certainly place us in a tier among the world’s population that allows us easier freedom of movement as it relates to the screening (aspect) around the COVID-19 response,” he said, noting that it is an important step in efforts to digitise the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.

In light of new and emerging trends around vaccination screening, he said the development of the digital card is timely as it enables persons to provide proof of vaccination which, he pointed out, is increasingly becoming a requirement in accessing and conducting transactions.

Regarding the security of personal data, Dr. Tufton said the system has built-in security mechanisms to protect persons’ information. He also reminded persons to be selective of the entities or individuals with which they share their digital vaccination card.

Dr. Tufton encouraged persons to visit an official vaccination site for assistance in accessing the digital card.

Member of the National Vaccination Operationalisation COVID-19 Taskforce, Peter Melhado, said this latest development is an important addition to the island’s current suite of digital solutions, including the Ministry’s COVID-19 vaccination management platform and online scheduling software.

“What that really means is that Jamaica now boasts a complete digital end-to-end experience, from scheduling through to record management and now digital certification,” he said.

Mr. Melhado noted that the system will also allow for input of information on   COVID-19 booster shots. This function is to be made available by the third week in January 2022.

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Donneth Edmondson, said the organisation’s support of the initiative is in keeping with its global COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

“With the certificate being launched today, Jamaicans now have the ability to provide certified proof of their vaccination status with the touch of a button. As people move around the world again, this will help us to travel with a bit more ease and to have quick access to the certification wherever it is requested,” she observed.

The roll out of the Digitisation of Jamaica’s COVID-19 Vaccination Card is the collaborative effort of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the private sector, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and not-for-profit organisation eGovernments Foundation, India, developer of an open source, flexible software DIVOC, an open source, digital infrastructure provided for governments to streamline public governance and administration.

The software is designed to facilitate certification of large-scale vaccination using, open-source technologies through scalable, data-driven architecture.