Sweden to develop ‘vaccination passports’ that allow you to travel and meet friends

Stockholm hopes to offer all adults a vaccine by the end of June but the timeline is likely to slip amid delays in supply

Credit: Reuters

Sweden is to follow its neighbour Denmark and develop digital ‘vaccination certificates’ residents can use to travel overseas, to meet an elderly relative in a care home, or even just eat in a restaurant. 

"A vaccination certificate is probably as desirable as getting vaccinated," Sweden’s health minister, Lena Hallengren, said at a press conference announcing the measure.

She said that certificates, which will be held on residents’ phones, could be used as a vaccine passport, "to travel abroad on holiday or to meet a loved one".

Everyone vaccinated in Sweden already has the right to receive a certificate from the vaccine provider, but the digital certificate will put this on their phones.

Sweden’s Minister for Digital Development Anders Ygeman said the plan was for the certificates to be available by June 1st.  

"Our goal is for the work to go as quickly as possible, and that the digital infrastructure will be in place by the summer," he said.

"When Sweden and the countries around us start to open up, it will probably be required to have a vaccination certificate to travel and take part in other activities."

He predicted that businesses such as restaurants might, in future, require proof of vaccination from customers.

The announcement came a day after Denmark announced a similar scheme, which acting finance minister Morten Bødskov described as "an extra passport you can have on your mobile phone which documents you have been vaccinated".

Denmark said it aimed to have its digital passport ready "in three to four months".

Businesses in Denmark have been lobbying for digital passports for several months, arguing that they would allow for shops, restaurants and other businesses to open up more quickly.  

“By using the digital head start we have, we can allow travel and participation in cultural life in Denmark. We will benefit from the corona passport for many years,” Lars Sandahl Sørensen, CEO of the Confederation Danish Industry, said.   

Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Union Commission, in January told a Portuguese newspaper that she supported the idea of a common EU vaccination certificate.

The Vaccination Credential Initiative, supported by private sector companies such as Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle, aims to get "participating health organizations" to provide digital access to vaccination records so that those vaccinated can get a  certificate they can carry in a digital wallet or as a PDF.

Sweden aims to have vaccinated everyone over the age of 16 by the final weekend in June, but delays in vaccine deliveries are making this less and less likely.