The European Commission has announced its proposal for a “Digital Green Certificate”, or vaccine passport, to enable safe and free movement within the EU during the pandemic.
The Commission announced on Wednesday that the certificate would confirm that someone had been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or had recovered from Covid-19.
The certificate can also be used in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway as well as Switzerland and will “be open to initiatives being developed worldwide”, the Commission told CNN in a news release.
The proposal was launched when the Commission called on the Member States to prepare for a “coordinated approach to the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions” when the epidemiological situation allows, before a meeting of European leaders on 25 March.
‘Today we propose a common EU approach that will guide us on our way to our goal of reopening the EU in a safe, sustainable and predictable way. The situation with the virus in Europe is still very challenging and confidence in decisions that are made is crucial. It is only through a joint approach that we can safely return to full free movement in the EU, based on transparent measures and full mutual trust, ‘Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said in a press release.
The Digital Green Certificate contains a QR code with a ‘digital signature’ to protect it against counterfeiting. When the certificate is checked, the QR code is scanned and the signature verified, ”reads the fact sheet of the Commission.
Each institution that has issued (e.g. a hospital, a testing center, a health authority) has its own digital signature key and all of these are stored in a secure database in each country.
The European Commission will build a gateway where all signatures of certificates across the EU can be verified.
The Commission proposed that Member States should issue vaccination certificates regardless of the type of COVID-19 vaccine. And people who have been vaccinated before the Digital Green Certificate is introduced should have the opportunity to get the necessary vaccination certificate.
No exact end date for the certificates was given, and the Commission said it would be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) put an end to the international public health emergency caused by COVID-19.
The Commission is working to ensure that the certificates are compatible with systems in third countries outside the EU, he said.