News Covid from Sweden: Digital vaccination certificate will be extended before summer

Lena Hallengren

Photographer: Henrik Montgomery / AFP / Getty Images

Sweden plans to launch a “digital vaccination certificate” and it already has in charge three government agencies to develop the infrastructure to manage relevant personal data.

The new certificate should be ready for use “before the summer,” Health Minister Lena Hallengren and Digitization Minister Anders Ygeman told a news conference on Thursday.

The Nordic country is pursuing similar initiatives to help alleviate international travel affected by the blockades to combat the pandemic, although there are debates as to whether restrictions on freedom of movement for these reasons would be legal.

“This certificate has to be recognized by the countries of the world,” Hallengren said. “For this reason, Sweden is actively working with the 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 vaccination testing for medical purposes.” The circumstances under which the certificates may be used will be determined “at a later stage”, according to European Council President Charles Michel.

Read more: Sweden deploys army on Norwegian border after entry ban

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