SA's Covid-19 digital vaccination certificate system 'in testing phase'

The national health department has appealed for patience while it tests a Covid-19 digital vaccination certificate system that is expected to officially launch later in the week.

“The department of health has been inundated with public and media enquiries about challenges they face when trying to download and access Covid-19 digital vaccination certificates,” said spokesperson Foster Mohale.

“The department is currently at the testing phase of the system to troubleshoot all possible glitches ahead of the official launch later this week. Thus, the system is not yet officially functional in a live environment which will enable vaccinated individuals to access and download certificates.”

Mohale said security had to be built into the electronic system to protect individuals’ personal data as much as possible.

“The development and release of fully fledged Covid-19 vaccination certificates will be phased-in over time.

“Thus, we request the public to exercise patience while we implement the final refinement as we prepare to officially launch the first version of the Covid-19 vaccination digital certificate.”

But, he added: “We are aware that a few lucky individuals managed to access the system and download their vaccination certificates.”

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Tuesday that 768 new Covid-19 cases had been identified in SA, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,907,619.

There were a further 103 Covid-19 related deaths reported, bringing total fatalities to 87,922 to date.

TimesLIVE