This pandemic made traveling not easy as before. While we could just travel from one island to another with only paying the boat or airfare, today, it is quite different especially during the first few months of the pandemic where borders were truly locked down.
However, after two long years, this has become easier. From accepting no one to allowing LSI or locally stranded individuals to traveling with requirements such as swab tests and S-pass and then today, good news arrived of travelers allowed to move from different borders without a need of any swab tests as long as one is fully vaccinated.
The Importance of Getting Vaccinated
While the good side of this in terms of traveling is that it allows one to not shell out additional cash for swab tests which are by the way not cheap, the most important reason why one has to get vaccinated is the fact that we are protected from the effects of the virus.
A fully vaccinated individual will still be infected by the virus of course but the effects won't be that serious compared to a non-vaccinated person.
Vaccination is free, thanks to the government and most local health units have over supplies of these vaccines, some are even asking locals to get vaccinated as they have to dispose of the vaccines soon.
Traveling With VaxCertPh
Just a few days ago, I have posted here that Bohol had finally opened its doors to travelers without the need for swab tests as long as one can present his or her vaccination certificate.
This is surely good news which made us, my husband and I plan our trip to Cebu. We have identification cards stating two different addresses, one for Cebu City where our house is located, and one for Oslob, in the southern part of Cebu, James' hometown.
Since Cebu province allows travel for fully vaccinated persons too, we planned on showing our provincial identification cards but then just two days ago, another good news had been released, Cebu City will finally allow the fully vaccinated individuals as well to travel! Yehey! That's certainly a good option for us because we can travel to Cebu City!
How to Get a Vaccination Certificate?
All those who have been vaccinated, either partial or full have been given a paper which has their vaccination information, the brand of the vaccine, the dates of when the vaccines were given as well as the medical staff who had given the said jab.
But this is not enough, there's a site (still on the beta version) that will verify if you are truly a vaccinated individual, thanks to the Department of Health.
Here are the steps in acquiring the vaccination certificate according to my experience:
Step 1. Navigate to Vaxcert.doh.gov.ph
The website is actually fast, I used my mobile Chrome browser in acquiring our certificates, both my husband and I.
We need to request a certificate so we click on continue.
Step 2. Data Privacy
Upon directing on the page, data privacy information will show up, just tick on the Agree option in order to proceed.
Step 3. Traveling Abroad and Vax Status
The website was initially created for overseas Filipino workers but it can also be used for others.
Thus on this page, we have to choose yes, traveling abroad even if we are not really going out of the country, this is just so we can generate a certificate, don't worry, we are not doing any crime here.
If you select no, we can't proceed with generating a certificate.
There's also a question as to if you are fully vaccinated or just partially. Answer as necessary. Partially vaccinated won't be allowed to generate a certificate.
Step 4. Personal Information
Here comes the page where you'll have to input your personal details such as name and birthday. Then the second page will ask for the vaccination details like the municipality or city in which you have been vaccinated as well as the dates.
This information can be found on the vaccination card given to you during the vaccination. If you have no idea what these are, that means you are not yet vaccinated and so you won't be able to proceed.
If your vaccine was of Johnson and Johnson brand, there's a tick box to select as it will as only for one dose information.
The site is fast and you just have to click on the drop-down box, type your municipality and the site will show you the results, just tap or click on the correct data.
Step 5. Review Details
Click on the verify vaccination information button afterward. Review the details and input the captcha characters shown.
The system will try to look for the data and will generate it as soon as it is able to locate it.
Step 6. Generate Vax Cert
If the record is found, the site will show you a preview of the vaccination certificate including a QR code and the information which were inputted by your local health units.
If the record is not found, then just click on the continue button and you will have to provide your vaccination information such as upload your vaccination card and government-issued ID, email, and contact number. Then send this for request.
It will take 5-14 days for you to be notified about the status of your certificate. Most probably, the details are not yet uploaded by the local health unit or perhaps you have inputted incorrect details.
Author's Experience
Based on my experience as I generated both mine and my husband's, the process was smooth. The website is quite fast, even looking up the vaccination information was also fast.
The interface looked decent and minimalistic, which makes the navigation quite immediate. All buttons are working and I didn't encounter any unnecessary errors during the process.
The certificate will have to be printed, some would even laminate them and this can be presented to the port upon entry to Cebu or Bohol and other parts of the country.
Again, this is only for fully vaccinated individuals. Anyone who is not yet fully vaccinated shall still be required to provide an RT-PCR or antigen test upon entry to these islands, Cebu and Bohol.
xoxo,
momentswithmatti
Mother | Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art | Crypto Noob
Very interesting article. How nice that you can travel as a family. After a long sanitary confinement it is time to take flight. Greetings to you and take care of yourselves on your trip to Cebu City.