There is growing speculation that a certificate scheme could be built into the main NHS app.
Read moreBy Leo Kelion & Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology desk editor
BBC News Health
'Think of others' by taking Covid jab, Queen urges
The monarch, who had her first dose of the vaccine in January, said it "didn't hurt at all".
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'Think of others' by taking Covid jab, Queen urges
The monarch, who had her first dose of the vaccine in January, said it "didn't hurt at all".
Single-shot Covid-19 vaccine 'safe and effective'
US regulators say Johnson and Johnson's single-shot vaccine is safe, and could be approved in days.
World's first doses of Covax vaccines delivered
The vaccine-sharing scheme aims to help poorer countries like Ghana get Covid-19 jabs.
Video 2 minutes 23 seconds
A heartbreaking milestone - Biden
President Joe Biden addresses the nation as the US mourns 500,000 people lost to Covid-19.
UK vaccine rollout working 'spectacularly'
First evidence jabs are having major impact on serious illness as well as cutting transmission.
England lockdown easing to make life 'incomparably better'
But it is too soon to say when social distancing rules will be relaxed, the health secretary says.
South Korea aims for 'herd immunity by autumn'
The prime minister says vaccinations are on track after criticism the country has been slow to start.
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'Think of others' by taking Covid jab, Queen urges
The monarch, who had her first dose of the vaccine in January, said it "didn't hurt at all".
Single-shot Covid-19 vaccine 'safe and effective'
US regulators say Johnson and Johnson's single-shot vaccine is safe, and could be approved in days.
World's first doses of Covax vaccines delivered
The vaccine-sharing scheme aims to help poorer countries like Ghana get Covid-19 jabs.
Video 2 minutes 23 seconds
A heartbreaking milestone - Biden
President Joe Biden addresses the nation as the US mourns 500,000 people lost to Covid-19.
UK vaccine rollout working 'spectacularly'
First evidence jabs are having major impact on serious illness as well as cutting transmission.
England lockdown easing to make life 'incomparably better'
But it is too soon to say when social distancing rules will be relaxed, the health secretary says.
South Korea aims for 'herd immunity by autumn'
The prime minister says vaccinations are on track after criticism the country has been slow to start.
Single-shot Covid-19 vaccine 'safe and effective'
US regulators say Johnson and Johnson's single-shot vaccine is safe, and could be approved in days.
World's first doses of Covax vaccines delivered
The vaccine-sharing scheme aims to help poorer countries like Ghana get Covid-19 jabs.
Video 2 minutes 23 seconds
A heartbreaking milestone - Biden
President Joe Biden addresses the nation as the US mourns 500,000 people lost to Covid-19.
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BBC News
By Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online
Living With Health Anxiety During A Pandemic
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Video caption: "You're a lot stronger than you think" "You're a lot stronger than you think" Cherelle on living with health anxiety during a pandemic
By James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent
Child development and attainment
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Video caption: Winifred Robinson tracks the lives of the 14,000 families taking part in Born in Bradford. Winifred Robinson has been alongside the Born in Bradford research for over a decade and reports on the latest findings as the 14,000 youngsters included reach secondary school.
By Steve Duffy
BBC News
'My twin gave me her kidney and the gift of life'
Kim Chakanetsa
The Comb podcast
Copyright: Nomsa SibayaImage caption: Thembi Makhoba (R) donated a kidney to her twin Nomsa Sibaya (L) in 2012 When Nomsa Sibaya’s only kidney began to fail in 2008, her doctor in South Africa told her she needed to urgently find a kidney donor.
Her other kidney had already been removed a few years earlier as a result of an infection.
Nomsa’s condition began to deteriorate - her weight plummeted, her complexion darkened, she was in constant pain and felt exhausted. So Nomsa’s twin sister, Thembi Makhoba, stepped in after being told by doctors she could help by donating one her kidneys.
The twins had always been close. When they were younger, if Thembi was sick Nomsa would be unwell too. So for Thembi, agreeing to be tested as a possible donor was an easy decision, despite resistance from her in-laws on religious grounds.
After passing a series of tests, surgeons removed and transplanted one of Thembi’s organs into Nomsa in October 2012.
Nomsa remembers waking up after the operation:
Quote Message: It was like I was given a second chance at life. The gift of life.”But according to the South African Journal of Critical Care, the majority of patients in need of an organ do not have a suitable living donor and the most serious patients end up on a donor waiting list.
Unable to find a compatible living donor, Sandrisha Rugbir is relying on a deceased donor’s organ and has been on the waiting list for seven years.
Diagnosed with renal failure at 21, she has been in limbo ever since.
Quote Message: You just have to keep the faith and pray every day that one day I will get a call saying that I have a kidney donor, and it is compatible.”There are 4,300 South Africans awaiting a life-saving transplant but only 0.2% of the country are registered as donors, according to South Africa’s Organ Donation Foundation.
Lack of awareness and cultural taboos are some of the factors that account for the shortage in organ donors.
Silindile Makhwasa, an organ transplant co-ordinator in Durban, says she often gets questions such as: “If I donate my organs to other people when I die, will my ancestors recognise me?”
Copyright: Silindile MakhwasaImage caption: Silindile Makhwasa tries to convince people to sign the donor register She regularly holds outreach programmes at shopping centres, universities and churches to address such questions.
Find out more in this week’s episode of The Comb.
Subscribe to the show on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
By Philippa Roxby
Health reporter
