EU member states have adopted guidelines that will allow for the establishment of an EU-wide accepted vaccination certificate to be used for “medical purposes”.
Earlier this month, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for the creation of an EU-wide Covid-19 vaccination certificate that will help restore safe travel that has been devastated by the pandemic.
The guidelines also set out the basis for a trust framework to ensure the authenticity and integrity of certificates, on which work will continue in the eHealth Network, including to further specify necessary data protection and security measures.
“I welcome the adoption of the guidelines on the proof of vaccination for medical purposes. We need a common approach to vaccination certificates, and I am looking forward to continuing cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) to scale up this tool at global level,” said Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for Health and Food Safety.
“Interoperable vaccination certificates will be an important tool for citizens during the pandemic but also after we have overcome it," she added.
The guidelines which target COVID-19 vaccination, might be used in the future as a basis for proving vaccination status.
According to the Greek Prime Minister’s office, “The first step in the implementation of Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ proposal for a European vaccination certificate was made today."
“The next step should be the expansion of their uses to facilitate Europeans’ travel, when a large enough percentage will have been vaccinated. In spite of some critics in Greece, the implementation of the prime minister’s proposal is moving along step by step, and the sooner it becomes reality, the better for all,” it continued.
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