Philippine International Vaccination Certificate APP "VaxCertPH" Expires on September 30!

According to Philippine media reports, on October 12, the Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said that the software for the country's digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate VaxCertPH had expired in September and the agency was "solving" the budget problem to keep it running.

"The software we use is contracted with suppliers and third-party suppliers, and technically expired on September 30."

Uy said the software contract update was an "unprogrammed expense" for DICT because the VaxCertPH should be turned over to the Department of Health. However, he said the DOH had only "recently" indicated that its personnel were not ready to manage the system and asked DICT to continue running it.

"We replied to them, 'OK, we will continue to run it, but we needRenewalcontract, as it expires on 30 September. 'We asked DOH, 'You have a budget, so we can continue to work together. They said they didn't, so the system was sent back to DICT."

DICT developed the VaxCertPH in coordination with the health department and VaxCertPH released as a mobile application.

Filipinos traveling abroad rely on VaxCertPH, an internationally recognized certificate of vaccination. They can also request an international vaccination certificate or "yellow card" from the Philippine Quarantine Bureau, which charges a handling fee.