Seven European Union countries began issuing digital vaccination certificates on June 1, a month before the bloc-wide program was launched.
This is according to a statement on the European Commission’s website.
“Seven member states — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia, and Poland — decided to join the program and started issuing the first EU certificates, while some countries decided to launch the EU COVID digital certificate only when all functions are deployed. Therefore, more countries will join in the coming days and weeks,” the report said.
The certificate will be available digitally as a QR code or on paper. It will be proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative, or recovered from the infection.
“Created in just two months, the EU Gateway provides security features verification contained in the QR codes of all certificates. This will allow citizens and authorities to have confidence in the authenticity of the certificates. No personal data is transmitted or stored during this process,” the European Commission explained.
Recall that vaccination certificates in the European Union, designed to ensure freedom of movement in Europe during the pandemic, will take effect on July 1.
On May 20, the EU Council approved the opening of borders to vaccinated travelers from third countries.
It also approved a so-called “emergency brake mechanism” that will temporarily restrict all travel to the EU from third countries if the epidemic situation rapidly deteriorates.
