Vietnam looks to digitalise COVID-19 vaccination database

Military-run telecom group Viettel has developed a digital health record system that allows people to register for COVID-19 vaccination, make health declarations, and receive information on time and venue for the inoculation online.

It is part of Vietnam’s efforts to apply technology in managing and certifying COVID-19 vaccination as the country is about to start a nationwide inoculation drive this month.

People can register to schedule a COVID-19 immunisation appointment on the system, which is available as a website and a mobile application. They will then receive a unique QR code to use for quick check-in for the appointment at their chosen location.

Once operational, the system will allow people to cut their wait time and avoid mass gatherings at vaccination centres. It will also provide facts and information about COVID-19 vaccines and inoculation.

Vaccine recipients will be sent another QR code as proof of vaccination, which will be later integrated into their digital health record, said Luu The Anh, Deputy Director of the Viettel Business Solutions Corporation (VTS)’s Medical Solution Centre.

According to the national technology centre for COVID-19 prevention and control, the digital vaccination management and certification system will play a very significant role in Vietnam, given that more and more COVID-19 vaccine doses are arriving in the country to be given to Vietnamese in the coming months.

With more foreign experts, who have been vaccinated against the virus, expected to enter Vietnam and the ongoing vaccination campaign, it is necessary to provide vaccine recipients with a digital certificate that enables them to travel from one region or country to others.

The Ministry of Information and Communications is cooperating with firms to develop a globally recognized system for digital COVID-19 vaccine certification.

Anh said the centre has worked on the digital health record system and vaccination management platform since the beginning of 2021 and Viettel, at the same time, has started offering training on the system for staff of the General Department of Preventive Medicine and local Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Updating the system’s database may be challenging in the coming time and so is the training for health workers from 12,000 health clinics qualified to provide vaccination services in such a short of time, he added.

But digitalising vaccination database remains an important step forward to help the country speed up the vaccine rollouts.