Citizens will be able to get their "vaccination passports" either through the official public services internet portal or through Citizen Service Centres. The certificate contains all the necessary information to identify the individual. It has three levels of protection — QR code, unique code and digital stamp.
"Today we begin the issuance of digital vaccination certificates. This is another Greek innovation. It will be automatically registered in the account of each citizen ... This is also a precautionary measure, as it is the only possible way to confirm legal vaccination", Mitsotakis said.
The prime minister added that the European Union had warmly welcomed his proposal to introduce an EU-wide vaccination certificate.
FILE PHOTO: Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios receives the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at Evangelismos hospital, in Athens, Greece, December 27, 2020.
© REUTERS / ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS
"This is not a restriction, on the contrary, it will help us get rid of the restrictions that COVID places on the travel of European citizens. This is especially true for our tourism and the prospects for our economy, especially considering the summer season. And today I saw that IATA [International Air Transport Association] had also agreed to this initiative, as it understands how much easier life will become for travellers if we manage to obtain a unified vaccination certificate", Mitsotakis said.
The minister added that he would raise this issue at the EU online summit on Thursday.
Greece has so far vaccinated 92,401 people. More than 11,000 vaccinations were given to citizens over 85, and about 6,000 shots were administered in nursing homes.
