Starting in September 2024, the European Vaccination Beyond COVID-19 (EUVABECO) project will pilot the European Vaccination Card (EVC) in the countries of Latvia, Greece, Belgium, Germany, and Portugal, with the goal of expanding to all EU Member States. The European Vaccination Card will centralize all vaccination records for each citizen and will initially be offered in both printed and digital formats, including for smartphones. The project’s stated goal is to “enhance individual control” over vaccination records and facilitate records sharing with healthcare providers. Developed by the Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN), an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the European Union (EU), the EVC will use QR codes to update and manage vaccination histories. Beyond the EVC, EUVABECO is also developing tools for vaccination recommendations, identifying vulnerable populations, and facilitating vaccine product transfer between countries.
The WHO’s GDHCN will provide a verification system designed to detect whether vaccination records are authentic and valid. Back in 2021 the EU issued the EU Digital COVID Certificate to track Covid-19 vaccination, testing and recovery statuses of EU citizens traveling within Europe. Intra-EU travel restrictions ended in August 2022, and the certificate regulations expired in late June 2023. On July 1, 2023, the WHO adopted the GDHCN initiative aimed at eventually tracking the vaccination status of all individuals globally and verifying the authenticity of required vaccinations, beginning with the EVC 5-country pilot program. The WHO, in partnership with the European Commission, will develop this system in stages, potentially extending to other health documents. Membership in the GDHCN is initially voluntary, with an emphasis on enhancing global health surveillance and safety.
