Finland: Comments invited on the decree specifying the Act on the Electronic Processing of Client Data in Healthcare and Social Welfare — digital vaccination certificate to be available in My Kanta Pages

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health requests comments on a draft decree specifying the Act on the Electronic Processing of Client Data in Healthcare and Social Welfare. The decree would lay down provisions whereby digital certificates of vaccinations and laboratory test results would be available to people in the My Kanta Pages.

In the first phase, the digital certificate would prove that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19. The aim is to make the digital vaccination certificate permanent so that in the future digital vaccination certificates would be available in the My Kanta Pages for all kinds of vaccinations and even for laboratory test results.

Decree would not lay down provisions on the intended uses of the certificateFinland is preparing a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate that would be available in the My Kanta Pages service, and the decree is related to this certificate. The certificate would be compatible with the Digital Green Certificate proposed by the European Commission, which is a COVID-19 certificate valid in all EU Member States. The certificate could be digital vaccination data, a QR code or a combination of these available in the My Kanta Pages and people could display the certificate on their mobile device or have it printed on paper.

Healthcare professionals record the information on vaccinations and other examinations in the My Kanta Pages after the person has been vaccinated, and the record keeper is responsible for making sure that the information recorded in the My Kanta Pages is correct.

The decree would not lay down provisions on the purposes for which the certificate could be used. People could decide themselves how and when to use the certificate.The digital vaccination certificate would be free.

Because some people do not use or are not able to use the My Kanta Pages, they could request a paper version of their vaccination certificate from the organisation that administered their vaccine. At the moment, people can request a paper certificate from the administering unit when they receive a vaccine.

Decree would not impose new obligations on healthcare professionals The decree specifying the Act on the Electronic Processing of Client Data in Healthcare and Social Welfare would not impose any new obligations on healthcare professionals, but they would still have their current statutory obligations.

Before the digital vaccination certificate can be introduced, it is, however, first necessary to make sure that vaccination data is recorded in the Kanta Services in a uniform and comprehensive manner and in the correct form. For this purpose, changes need to be made to a large number of the patient data systems currently in use or a separate application attached to the Kanta Services needs to be introduced to record vaccination information. Comments can be submitted until 9 April 2021Comments on the decree can be submitted between 19 March and 9 April 2021.

request for comments at lausuntopalvelu.fi (service for online consultation)The aim is that the decree would enter into force on 1 May 2021 and the technical implementation of the certificate would be ready in May 2021.