MANILA— The government has so far distributed at least 138,000 digital COVID-19 vaccine certificates since its launch earlier this month, an official from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Saturday.

In a public briefing, DICT Undersecretary Manny Caintic said this is more than half of the 225,000 requests they received nationwide.

VaxCertPH had its soft launch in the capital region and Baguio City, where booths were set up for document correction purposes, Caintic said.

• VaxCertPH set to be launched in September: DILG exec

"Bukas naman talaga siya, pero kung halimbawa... may data rectification na kailangan, inuuna namin ang mga OFWs at international travelers. Nationwide naman din pero limited release para 'di dagsain," he explained.

(It is open to everyone but if there's data rectification needed, we prioritize OFWs and international travelers. This is available nationwide but it's on limited release so people won't flock.)

This week, booths were made available in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Metro Cebu, and Davao Region for its pilot rollout.

"Dito kami nagtutok, nagpatulong kami sa mga local government units para sa data rectification booth, ibig sabihin kung may isang magrereklamo na wala pa rin ang record niya sa vaccine immunization registry, pwede silang tulungan ng LGUs," the official added.

(We are focusing on these regions. We are asking help from local government units for the data rectification booth, which means that if there's a complaint regarding the vaccine immunization registry, their LGUs could help them)

LGUs have data rectification booths for people who have difficulties doing it online.

Overseas Filipino workers and international travelers are currently being prioritized in the rollout, he said.

• 'VaxCertPH': Soft launch ng portal para sa digital COVID-19 vaccine certificate, inilunsad

An individual can register for the digital vaccination certificate at least 2 days after their second dose. Localities and organizations are required to submit data at least 48 hours after their residents' vaccination.

VaxCertPH was developed by the DICT, in coordination with the Department of Health. It will also be released as a mobile app.

The digital certificates will be issued immediately and can be saved in mobile phones as a PDF file.

To date, over 19.6 million individuals have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, data collated by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group showed.

At least 23.4 million people in the country, meanwhile, are partially immunized from COVID-19.

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