St Lucia to launch Digital COVID vaccination certificate by next week

St Lucia: The government will be launching a digital vaccination certificate by next week to be provided to fully immunised individuals. The certificate will be launched on December 29, 2021, by the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs in partnership with the Division of Public Sector Modernization. 

Those who are fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 vaccine can apply for the document, which is to be issued by the digiGov platform. The official digital certificate will replace the hard copy document. 

The vaccination certificate can be held in digital gadgets, making it easy for the general public. 

Counting the benefits of the digital inoculation certificate, the health minister highlighted that provisions are also there for the businesses, institutions and organisations to confirm the authenticity of the COVID-19 digital vaccination certificate with grander security and privacy protection. 

One can also download their digital vaccination certificate from a smart device with a QR code scanner. Besides this, the health authorities added that it would also prove to be very fruitful in accessing the information of a traveller’s vaccination status. 

In order to get the knowledge to access and apply for the digital vaccination certificate, several television advertisements, explainer videos, announcements will be delivered to the general public in the next few days. 

Other documents required to apply for a digital vaccination certificate are as follows: 

1. Recently clicked passport size photograph.
2. Vaccine card. 
3. ID proof. 
4. Working contact number and email address. 

The COVID-19 vaccination statistics of the island – 

To date, more than 13,177 individuals have contracted the deadliest COVID-19 virus, while around 295 people lost their lives to the viral pandemic. 

As per the vaccination figures, till December 21, 2021, around 55,423 individuals have been inoculated, atleast by taking their first jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine, which accounts for 30.2% of the total targeted population. 

On the other hand, 48,650 people are those who are fully immunised against COVID-19, which is 26.5% of the islands’ population.