Dutch gov't wants Covid passport to give immune people more freedom

The Dutch government is working on a proof of non-contagiousness to give more freedom to people who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, recently recovered from an infection and therefore are immune, or recently tested negative for the virus. People can use such a coronavirus passport to attend concerts, festivals or go to the movies, for example, NOS reports.

Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health confirmed to the broadcaster that the government is working on "making it technically possible", but there are still some questions surrounding the use of such a coronavirus passport. For example, it must first be confirmed that vaccinated people no longer play a role in spreading the virus. "And what we do not want is compulsory vaccination, not even indirectly," he said. "People should not feel forced to get vaccinated."

According to De Jonge, there is already an app that can make a code on your phone to serve as proof of Covid-19 test results. "We can adapt that app in such a way that it makes the same code from a vaccination certificate," he said.

The departing Health Minister expects that the use of proof of non-contagiousness will be technically possible before the summer. But whether or not it will actually be used, remains to be seen.