Finland’s COVID-19 vaccination certificate to conform to EU model

Finland is preparing a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate that will be compatible with the proposed EU model, said a press release jointly issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), and the Social Insurance Institution – Kela.

The Finnish certificate will be available in the My Kanta Pages.

Earlier, on 17 March, the European Commission presented a proposal to create a Digital Green Certificate, which is a COVID-19 certificate valid in all EU member states.

The commission proposes that the Digital Green Certificate be a digital proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, recovered from COVID-19, or received a negative test result.

The Finnish digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate, available in the My Kanta Pages, would contain the same information as the forthcoming Digital Green Certificate.

In Finland, the digital vaccination certificate will be implemented in stages and, in the first phase, the certificate would prove that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

At a later stage, it would be possible to get similar certificates of negative test result and recovery from COVID-19.

The Digital Green Certificate would contain a QR code, and citizens could also request a paper version.

The Finnish certificate could be digital vaccination data, a QR code, or a combination of these available in the My Kanta Pages and people could display the certificate on their mobile device or have it printed on paper. The certificate could be authenticated with the QR code.

The commission has proposed that the Digital Green Certificate be temporary. It could be used until the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 pandemic over.

Finland’s aim is to make the digital vaccination certificate permanent so that, in the future, certificates of all kinds of vaccinations and even of laboratory tests and other examinations would be available.