Kerala to issue COVID-19 vaccine certificates for those travelling abroad; to reduce covishield gap if second dose pending

The circular issued by the state govt also said that beneficiaries who have taken Covaxin and want a certificate with passport number added to it can also apply.

Moneycontrol News
May 30, 2021 / 02:01 PM IST

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The Kerala government on May 30 announced that it will issue a vaccine certificate for people travelling abroad. As per ANI, the Kerala government directed that beneficiaries may apply for a Final/Provisional certificate based upon their current vaccination status by uploading the relevant documents supporting the same.

The circular issued by the state govt also said that beneficiaries who have taken Covaxin and want a certificate with a passport number added to it can also apply.

"Beneficiaries may apply for Final/Provisional certificate based upon their current vaccination status by uploading the relevant documents supporting the same," directed Kerala government regarding COVID vaccination & issuance of its certificate for persons travelling abroad pic.twitter.com/jwaEP8KcWp


— ANI (@ANI) May 30, 2021

"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 read.

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As per the notification, the district medical officer is authorised as a competent authority to approve these certificates.

COVID-19 Vaccine

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A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

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"Applications thus submitted will be verified by the concerned District Medical Officer/ Officer designated by DMO and the application will be approved/rejected. A 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.

With the Health Ministry has prescribed a time interval 12-16 weeks gap between the first and second doses of the Covishield vaccine, the Kerala govt has 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."

People who are still to take the first dose of the COVID vaccine and are planning to go abroad must register on Cowin using a passport as an ID card so that passport number gets documented in Cowin certificate.

Meanwhile, the state on May 29 reported 23,513 COVID-19 cases, taking the caseload to 24,64,360, while 198 deaths pushed the toll to 8,455. Recoveries outnumbered new infections with 28,100 patients testing negative, taking the total to 22,52,505. Active cases stood at 2,33,034.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here.
Moneycontrol News
TAGS: #coronavirus #COVID-19 vaccine #Current Affairs #India #Kerala
first published: May 30, 2021 02:01 pm