Covid-19 vaccine certificate for South Africa launched

South Africa’s digital Covid-19 vaccine certificate, which features a scannable QR code, has been launched by the department of health. The South African Covid-19 Vaccine Certificate System went live, without announcement, on Tuesday. Its development comes amid government’s move to ease lockdown restrictions and create a certifiable proof of vaccination.

“It can be used to facilitate travel, [for] access to establishments and gatherings, and other forms of activity that require proof of vaccination status,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said of the vaccination certificate during the announcement of South Africa’s move to Adjusted Alert Level 1 lockdown on Thursday.

“Streamlining and standardising proof of vaccination will also go a long way towards getting a number of international travel restrictions both from and into our country eased.
The system, developed according to guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in August, creates a digital copy of the standard vaccine card issued to those at vaccination sites.
This digital version, which can be downloaded as a PDF and used on a mobile device or printed, is linked to the vaccination code issued by the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS). This EVDS vaccination number is included on the physical card and the SMS verification received after being vaccinated.

The online portal requires those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 – either with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) jab or two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine – to complete a form. The person needs to choose their “identity type” using an RSA identity number, RSA passport number, or asylum seeker/refugee number.

Once the form is completed, with identity type, name, surname and EVDS code, users will need to supply their mobile numbers. A One Time Pin (OTP) will be sent to the supplied number in an SMS. The OTP can then be entered to access the final, digital Covid-19 vaccine certificate.
The QR Code generated is not intended to be readable by the general public, it is meant to be used by entities requiring to verify the card’’ validity, using a Vaccine Certificate System inbuilt QR scanner which will be available in the near future,” notes the disclaimer at the bottom of the Covid-19 Vaccination Card.

South Africa’s health department has not yet announced the official launch of the South African Covid-19 Vaccine Certificate System, indicating, as with the initial launch of the EVDS, that the online portal is still being refined.