Germany rolling out digital COVID-19 vaccination ‘passport’

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Germany last week Thursday began rolling out a digital COVID-19 vaccination pass that travelers can use to travel across Europe, the Associated Press reports. The “CovPass” is expected to be available by the end of the month to everyone in Germany who has been fully vaccinated.

The CovPass will be gradually given out at Germany’s vaccination centers, doctor’s offices and pharmacies, AP reports. Users will be able to download proof of their vaccination status onto their smartphone and gain access to restaurants and other public places that require it.

The German news outlet DW reports that doctors and pharmacies in the country feel underprepared to cope with the demand for passes. However, DW notes: “The reimbursement for the extra work of issuing the digital certificate has been regulated: Doctors have been promised €2-€6 ($2.4-$7.3) reimbursement for each digital document they issue to the patients they vaccinate. For the retroactive issuing of a certificate clinics, vaccination centers and pharmacies will receive €18.”

“We in the European Union are setting a cross-border standard that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the world yet,” German Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters last week. “The goal is that this certificate can also be used in Helsinki, Amsterdam or Mallorca,” Spahn said, explaining that the pass is an important step in resuming international travel.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, 47% of Germany’s population, or about 39.1 million people, have had one shot. Nearly 20 million Germans have had both shots.

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