Covid News Sweden: digital vaccination certificate to be rolled out by summer

Photographer: Henrik Montgomery / AFP / Getty Images

Sweden plans to roll out a “digital vaccination certificate” and has done so charge three government agencies to develop the infrastructure to process the relevant personal data.

The new certificate should be ready for use ‘before the summer’, Minister of Health Lena Hallengren and Minister of Digitization Anders Ygeman said at a press conference on Thursday.

The Nordic country is pursuing similar initiatives to facilitate international travel affected by lockdowns to combat the pandemic, even though there are debates as to whether restrictions on freedom of movement would be legal on such grounds.

“Such a certificate must be recognized by the countries of the world,” said Hallengren. “For that reason, Sweden is actively working with WHO and the EU to ensure that certificates maintain an international standard.”

Leaders of the European Union agreed at a video conference last month to work on a “standardized and interoperable form of evidence of vaccination for medical purposes.” The conditions under which the certificates can be used will be determined “at a later stage”, said Charles Michel, President of the European Council.

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