The Netherlands will investi­gate whether residents of the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom can also use the “digital green certificate” that is being developed in a European context. This “vaccination passport” with which citizens can demon­strate that they were vacci­nated, recently tested and/or recovered is intended to restart international travel.

The Daily Herald reports that Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge and Minister of Justice Ferdinand Grapperhaus announced in a letter to the Second Chamber of Parliament in the Hague that government favors the introduction of a Eu­ropean Union (EU) COV­ID-19 status certificate, on the condition that it does not discriminate or lead to compulsory vaccination.

The Digital Green Certif­icate (DGC) will serve to:

a)    demonstrate that the holder has been vaccinated (vaccination certificate).

b)    demonstrate the result and date of a NAAT (mo­lecular nucleic acid ampli­fication) or rapid antigen test (test certificate).

c)    Confirm that the per­son has recovered from COVID-19 contamination following a positive NAAT or RAT rapid antigen test (recovery certificate).

These certificates can be issued automatically or at the request of a per­son and must be free of charge. In addition, cer­tificates must be able to be issued in both digital and paper form and must be presented at least in Eng­lish, and the official lan­guage of the EU Member State of issue.

The regulation also re­quires the establishment and maintenance of a trust framework built by the European Commission (EC) and Member States that allows a certificate to be issued and verified securely without sharing further data during verifi­cation.

Vaccination certificates should indicate whether a person has completed the full vaccination cycle. The certificates may be issued for vaccinations approved by European Medicines Agency (EMA) or by rel­evant national authorities.

The certificates may also be issued for a vaccine that is authorized based on an emergency exemp­tion, and for a vaccine that is on the World Health Organization (WHO) list.

Read the position of the EU HERE.

The Daily Herald