Ag. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronald Georges said the system is almost ready to be launched.

“We have been working very closely with the Department of IT, and they have created a web-based application,” he said yesterday September 27 during the GIS Let’s Talk With the Health Experts programme.

He said presently, the letters that have been issued to the travelling public to serve as vaccine verification documents are formatted exactly like those from the United Kingdom (UK) and thus far, they have been accepted in the UK and other countries.

“So we have been doing that for quite a while, and that’s in preparation for a more in-depth system the Department of IT is working on for quite some time. So we are testing the product, and it is basically ready for launch,” he added.

Dr. Georges said they have already pre-tested the system and are pleased with the outcome.

“So essentially persons can then go to this website which is on the Government’s server, and they can type in this information, they can upload their copies of their little vaccine cards, front and back, upload their I.D and some other verification information. That goes into a database, and we will be able to verify it against whether they have been vaccinated or not, and once it has been approved, a vaccine verification letter and it has a QR Code on it.”

He continued: “So anybody who gets that letter now and they scan the QR Code, or if they have uploaded the PDF, they can just click on the link, and it goes straight back to the Government’s website and verify if that person is vaccinated. So that will satisfy the requirements for a number of countries for travel.”

He said plans are also underway to have add-ons for Apple and Samsung wallets, but “We have not gone to that stage yet. But, the base website is ready to roll, we are testing it, and we are very happy with it and ready to launch next week.”

Also speaking to the upcoming launch, National Epidemiologist Harmonie Massiah stated: “Definitely the digitized way is the more modern way to go.”

“I know many persons have smartphones, so you can easily download it as a PDF on your phone, and when you go to the various countries they can just scan it with their own phone or the QR reader, and it takes them to the server with the details, stating the date vaccinated, the date tested and that type of thing," she said.

She added, "so we have really worked hard behind the scenes."