Kerala Government to issue Covid vaccination certificates with passport numbers for those travelling abroad

The Kerala government has announced it will issue Covid-19 vaccination certificates with passport numbers to people travelling abroad to countries where it is mandatory. The district medical officers have been authorised as the competent authority to issue these certificates.

"Those beneficiaries (above 18 years) who are travelling abroad and wants to get the State Issued COVID Vaccination certificate, with Passport number and/or vaccine name added (in case of Covishield) as mentioned in GO must apply for the same through https://covid19.kerala.gov.in/vaccine/," the notification issued by the Kerala government on Saturday read.

"Applications thus submitted will be verified by the concerned District Medical Officer/ Officer designated by DMO and the application will be approved/rejected. Once approved digital certificate will be issued, and the Beneficiary will get an SMS confirmation regarding the same.

Certificate can then be downloaded from the portal (https://covid19.kerala.gov.in/vaccine/)," it said. The state also decided to reduce the gap for the second dose of vaccine to four to six weeks for those who want to travel abroad. The beneficiaries can apply for priority vaccination through the eHealth portal with documents supporting immediate travel.

"Those beneficiaries (>18 years), who are partially vaccinated and are yet to complete 84 days after the first dose of Covishield, but needs the completion of vaccination schedule for travelling abroad may apply for priority vaccination through the eHealth portal with documents supporting immediate travel and can get vaccinated at 4-6 weeks interval after the first dose, once the application is approved and subsequently scheduled for vaccination by District RCHO," The Union Health Minister has prescribed a time interval 12-16 weeks gap between the first and second doses of the Covishield vaccine.

According to official data, there are 2,38,210 active cases of COVID-19 in Kerala. The lockdown in the state has been extended till June 9 in all the districts.