Sweden to Introduce Digital Vaccine Certificates This Summer

(Bloomberg) -- Sweden plans to roll out a “digital vaccination certificate” and has tasked 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 Minister of Digitalization Anders Ygeman said at a press conference on Thursday.

The Nordic country is following similar initiatives to help ease international travel hit by lockdowns to fight the pandemic even as there are debates over whether limits to the freedom of movement on such grounds would be legal.

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

European Union leaders agreed at a video conference last month to work on a “standardised and inter-operable form of proof of vaccination for medical purposes.” The circumstances in which the certificates can be used will be determined “at a later stage,” according to European Council President Charles Michel.

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