Estonia Launches Enhanced Vaccine Passport

The Republic of Estonian Government announced it had gone live with VaccineGuard to support the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and extend its vaccination program with secure and internationally verifiable certificates ensuring the attestation of reliable vaccination with authentic vaccines.

VaccineGuard vaccination certificates, issued through the national patient portal, will comply with the EU's proposed Green Certificate program.

However, the platform provides the capabilities to extend the functionality by linking the full supply chain of each vaccine to the certificate, enabling rapid root cause analysis in adverse reactions.

In the next phase of the launch, COVID-19 test results and recovery confirmation will be issued from the platform.

Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia, commented in a press release issued on April 29, 2021, “As one of the most digitally advanced nations in the world, we are very excited to offer our citizens a trustworthy COVID-19 vaccine certificate, providing another major step on our road back to normality."

"Along with Guardtime, Estonia is keen to share our experience in managing our vaccination program and the development of our certificate initiative with all interested parties.”

On April 30, 2021, the Estonian-Latvian border will open for work or study purposes if a person will have received negative COVID-19 test results in the preceding seven-day period, according to a decision by the Estonian government, reported local media.

The current regulations require a 10-day self-quarantine period, which can be shortened.

Estonia is located in northeastern Europe, the northernmost of the three Baltic states. Estonia's area includes some 1,500 islands and islets.