The European digital corona passport shares more medical data than the Netherlands wanted. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport tells Trouw about this. The QR code that is intended for international travel will show, among other things, which vaccine someone has had, which the Netherlands was against.
“The corona passport shows more medical data than the Netherlands initially wanted,” says a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Faithful. The ministry is referring to the QR code that is intended for international travel. Which is linked by to it Digital Green Certificate from the European Commission.
For example, this QR code for European travel is scanned before users are allowed to board an aircraft abroad. This QR code shows, among other things, whether someone has recovered from an infection, has been tested negative or has had a vaccine. If someone has been vaccinated, it will also show what type of vaccine someone has received, along with the number of doses and the date of vaccination.
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport tells Trouw that the Netherlands would have preferred that no medical data be shown on the corona passport, but this requirement fell during negotiations between EU member states. At the same time, it is emphasized that it has been laid down by law that European member states are not allowed to centrally store the data from the Digital Green Certificate themselves. The European Parliament also wants the use of such vaccination certificates limited to one year.
The ministry also wants to introduce a QR code that is purely for domestic use. That variant contains less data. This QR code is only linked to the initials and the day and month of birth of a user, so that users cannot use the QR code of another. In addition, the national QR code does not distinguish between a test certificate, a vaccination certificate, or proof that the visitor has recently recovered from the corona virus. Both the national and national QR code are processed in the CoronaCheck app upon introduction.
Outgoing Minister of Health Huge de Jonge left earlier this month already know that the cabinet is expected to be able to make a decision about the introduction of a vaccination certificate at the beginning of June. De Jonge would only want to introduce such vaccination certificates if it is clear that vaccines actually lead to fewer infections, and if a ‘significant part’ of the Dutch population has been vaccinated.
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