Germany rolls out EU digital vaccine passport for travel

The EU certificate will come into force from 1 July

What the digital certificate will look like ((c) Copyright 2021, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten)

Germany has started rolling out its digital vaccine passport for travel as Europe prepares for the restart of international travel.

At the start of June, the European Commission announced it had agreed a travel pass that would allow European citizens and residents – vaccinated or not – to travel freely across the 27-nation region by the summer.

The pass, a type of vaccine passport, is to help facilitate travel between member states.

The free certificate will show details of vaccinations, test results and recovery from Covid, and will be in force from 1 July.

Ahead of the rollout, seven European Union members – including Germany – were trialling the pass.

Germany’s health minister said from this week, fully vaccinated people would be given digital passes from vaccination centres, pharmacies and GP surgeries.

The CovPass, which allow users to download proof of their vaccination status onto a smartphone app, will be available by the end of June.

Health minister Jens Spahn said the pass could be used to access facilities like museums and concerts in Germany, as well as for international travel.

“The goal is that this certificate can also be used in Helsinki, Amsterdam or Mallorca,” Mr Spahn told reporters in Berlin.

“By doing so, we in the European Union are setting a cross-border standard that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the world yet,” he said, adding that digital vaccination pass is an important step to revive international tourism.

The country’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, reported Thursday that 47 per cent of the population, or about 39.1 million people, have been vaccinated at least once.

Various countries in Europe have flung open their doors to European tourists, whether vaccinated or not.

Britons can visit Spain with no testing nor quarantine; and France yesterday welcomed fully vaccinated Britons with just a lateral flow test.

Additional reporting by agencies