In a document published on Wednesday 14 April, Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, reminds governments of the relevant standards in developing a vaccine passport scheme.
Four themes are laid out: - basis for the obligation of States to provide access to immunisation; - vaccination certificates, vaccine passports and their use; - privacy and data protection; - security and public health risks.
These are the issues at the heart of the work carried out by the Council of Europe’s Committee on Bioethics and the Consultative Committee of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal data.
This information document was sent on 31 March to the governments of the 47 Member States of the Organisation.
It stresses the importance of redoubling efforts to produce and administer vaccines so that restrictions on individual freedoms can be lifted as herd immunity is acquired, and emphasises the importance of measures to prevent counterfeit health documents. On this last point, the Secretary General refers to the MEDICRIME and CYBERCRIME Conventions of the Council of Europe. Link to the document: https://bit.ly/3afzTA3 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)