By Spy Uganda
Kampala: United Kingdom has announced that it has approved COVID-19 digital vaccination cards for Uganda and 29 other countries and territories.
The news has been confirmed by UK Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, who revealed that development takes effect on Monday, November 1, 2021.
“We can confirm that from Monday, eligible travellers from over 30 new countries and territories, including Peru and Uganda will be added to our inbound vax policy, bringing the total number of countries on this list to over 135,” said Shapps.
However, Shapps says that travellers from the above countries must take a rapid antigen test on arrival, and if negative, they are allowed to continue to their respective destinations.
Now, this is a relief to Ugandans as they will not be forced a 10-day quarantine period on arrival in the UK as it was previously.
How To Acquire This Digital COVID-19 Certificate
According to Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), fully vaccinated Ugandans can get their certificates from the online portal now as long they have a national ID number and registered phone number.
To find out one’s vaccination status, UVRI previously told journalists that Ugandans who have been fully vaccinated need to enter in the details of their identification number and the last six digits of the mobile phone number they used at vaccination.
Dr Alfred Driwale, the Programme Manager of the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization (UNEPI), said the system is instant, adding that applicants should be able to get a PDF copy of their verified results within seconds.
“We have all the records of all persons that have been vaccinated in our database. The verified certificate that we shall be issuing will have security features that will stop people from forging it, “he said.
Currently upon vaccination, one receives a card from the Health Ministry bearing their particulars such as name, occupation, name of the vaccine used and when the second dose should be administered.
While the online certificate will carry some of the details on the cards being issued, the Health Ministry’s Senior Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ainebyoona, said the certificates will also have a QR code that can be scanned to verify the authenticity of the card.
The certificate also shows where vaccination occurred, certificate number, card number and is signed by the director-general of health services.
”Anyone can visit the ministry of health portal, https://epivac.health.go.ug/certificates/#/ and enter in their details and within three minutes, the system will send a verified Covid-19 certificate,” Dr Driwale said the card will be internationally accepted.
“The certificate was worked on with knowledge of the World Health Organization, NITA and even security agencies. It is an authentic document that will help solve the issue of fake cake cards,” he added.
