
Photographer: Henrik Montgomery / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Henrik Montgomery / AFP / Getty Images
Sweden plans to launch a “digital vaccination certificate” and has in charge three government agencies to develop the infrastructure to handle the relevant personal data.
The new certificate should be ready for use “before the summer”, Health Minister Lena Hallengren and Digitalization Minister Anders Ygeman said at a news conference on Thursday.
The Nordic country is pursuing similar initiatives to help facilitate international travel hit by roadblocks to combat the pandemic, even as there are debates over whether limits on freedom of movement for such reasons would be legal.
“This certificate must be recognized by the countries of the world,” said Hallengren. “For this reason, Sweden is actively working with WHO and the EU to ensure that certificates maintain an international standard.”
European Union leaders agreed to a video conference last month to work on a “standardized and interoperable form of proof of vaccination for medical purposes”. The circumstances in which certificates can be used will be determined “at a later stage”, according to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
Read more: Sweden sends army to Norwegian border after entry ban
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