What Information Goes Into a QR Code?

A vaccination certificate is a proof that a person has received the shot to protect them from an infectious disease such as COVID-19 or the flu. We have given below the type of information (mandatory and optional) that should be there in a QR code-based COVID-19 vaccination certificate, as specified by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Requirement status for proof of vaccination
DDCC label
DIVOC label
Description and definition
Data type/format
Examples

Mandatory

Name

recipientName

The full name of the vaccinated person.

String

John Tom Brown

Mandatory

Date of birth

recipientDOB

The vaccinated person's date of birth (DOB) if known. If unknown, use the assigned DOB for administrative purposes.

Date

1998-01-05

Mandatory

Unique identifier (primary identifier of the beneficiary)

preEnrollmentCode

Unique identifier for the vaccinated person, according to the policies applicable in each country. There can be more than one unique identifier used to link records (example: national ID, health ID, immunisation information system ID, and medical record ID). All the certificate IDs will be linked to the beneficiary's preEnrollmentCode.

UUID

Optional

recipientIdentity

To be used only if there is a need to share/print an additional national ID. By default, it is set as 'null' in DIVOC's case. The above field covers this as well.

Alpha number

Driving license

Optional

Sex

recipientGender

Documentation of a specific instance of sex information for the vaccinated person.

Male/female/other

Optional

recipientMobileNumber

Numeric

18767778888

Mandatory

Vaccine type or prophylaxis

Need to incorporate in the payload.

Generic description of the vaccine or vaccine sub-type, such as COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, HPV vaccine.

Coding - ICD 11

Mandatory

Vaccine brand

vaccinationName

The brand or trade name used to refer to the vaccine received.

String

Pfizer

Optional

Vaccine manufacturer

vaccinationManufacturer

Name of the manufacturer of the vaccine received, such as Serum institute of India, or AstraZeneca. If the vaccine manufacturer is unknown, a market authorisation holder is needed.

String

ABC company

Optional

Vaccine market authorisation holder

Name of the market authorisation holder of the vaccine received. If the market authorisation holder is unknown, a vaccine manufacturer is required. This is needed only if the manufacturer is not listed in the WHO EUL (Emergency Use Listing Procedure) list.

String

Mandatory

Vaccine batch number

vaccinationBatch

Batch number or lot number of the vaccine.

String

4121Z104

Mandatory

Date of vaccination

vaccinationDate

Date on which the vaccine was administered.

Date

2021-11-30

Mandatory

Dose number

vaccinationDose

Vaccine dose number.

Quantity

1, 2

Mandatory

Total doses

vaccinationTotalDoses

Total expected doses as defined by a member state's care plan and immunisation programme policies.

Quantity

For Pfizer and BioNTech, the total expected doses are two.

Mandatory

Country of vaccination

facilityCountry

The country where a person was vaccinated.

Code

JAM = Jamaica

Optional

Administering centre

facilityName

The name or identifier of the vaccination facility responsible for administering the vaccination.

String

Falmouth Health Centre

Optional

Health worker identifier

vaccinatorName/ID

If the country does not have a national identifier, you can share the name of the vaccinator.

ID

National ID of the vaccinator

Optional

Disease or agent targeted

Available as a certificate header and not as a data element in the current certificate API payload.

Name of the disease vaccinated against (such as COVID-19). We recommend that you can have it as a data element within the payload.

Coding

Certificate header: COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate.

Optional

Due date of the next dose

Only implemented for India.

Date - YYYYMM/DD

Mandatory

Certificate issuer

Issuer (available in the output)

The authority or authorised organisation that issued the vaccination certificate.

String

Ministry of Health & Wellness, Jamaica

Mandatory

Health certificate identifier

Certificate ID (available in the output)

Unique identifier used to associate the vaccination status represented in a paper vaccination card.

ID

378855845

Optional

Certificate valid from

vaccinationEffectiveStart

Date on which the certificate became valid. No health or clinical inferences should be made from this date.

Date

2021-11-30

Optional

Certificate valid to

vaccinationEffectiveEnd

Last date on which the certificate is valid. No health or clinical inferences should be made from this date.

Date

2022-11-30

Optional

Certificate schema version

Only if schema versions are maintained.

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