COVID-19 vaccination certificate becomes available in My Kanta Pages — decree specifying Act on Electronic Processing of Client Data in Healthcare and Social Welfare enters into force

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has issued a decree on the digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate that will be available in the My Kanta Pages. The decree will lay down provisions whereby certificates of vaccinations, laboratory test results and recovery from COVID-19 will be available to people in the My Kanta Pages. The decree will enter into force on 25 May 2021.

The COVID-19 vaccination certificate available in the My Kanta Pages will be introduced in stages. On 26 May, Finland will launch a national certificate of COVID-19 vaccination that will contain information about the COVID-19 vaccines the certificate holder has received. The information given in the national certificate will be available in Finnish, Swedish and English. As of July, people in Finland will be able to use the EU Digital Covid Certificate that will include a vaccination certificate, a test certificate and a recovery certificate. The EU Digital Covid Certificate will also be available in Finnish, Swedish and English. 

The plan is that in future a vaccination certificate will be available in the My Kanta Pages for all kinds of vaccinations and even for laboratory test results.

Decree will not include provisions on intended uses of certificate

The decree will not lay down provisions on the intended uses of the COVID-19 vaccination certificate. People can decide themselves how and when to use the certificate. The COVID-19 vaccination certificate available in the My Kanta Pages will be free of charge.

The national COVID-19 vaccination certificate, which will be launched in May, will be available only in the My Kanta Pages. You can either show the certificate in a digital form or print it out on paper. You can also authorise someone else to use the My Kanta Pages on your behalf.

Currently, and even in the future, you can ask your healthcare provider to give you a paper certificate of your COVID-19 vaccination. This paper certificate will not, however, be the same as the national COVID-19 vaccination certificate available in the My Kanta Pages. 

When the EU Digital Covid Certificate is launched in July, you can get if from the My Kanta Pages or you can ask your public healthcare provider to give you a paper version of it free of charge.

Healthcare professionals will record the information on vaccinations and other examinations in the My Kanta Pages after the person has been vaccinated and tested and make sure that the information recorded in the My Kanta Pages is correct. Individual persons will have access to the certificates in the My Kanta Pages after the information has been recorded in the My Kanta Pages in the correct form.

The decree issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will not impose any new obligations on healthcare professionals in addition to their current statutory obligations.

Opinions in favour of decree

The decree was available for public consultation between 19 March and 9 April 2021. Almost all opinions were in favour of the decree. The opinions emphasised that the certificates must also be accessible to those who do not use e-services. They also pointed out that the proposal would place patients in an unequal position if the certificate available in the My Kanta Pages was free of charge while the certificate given by a public healthcare provider was subject to a fee.

Travelling should be avoided

Although the COVID-19 vaccination certificate will become available in the My Kanta Pages, people should still avoid travelling, as the epidemic situation varies across countries. Before travelling, people should always check the COVID-19 situation in their destination and, before returning home, they should check the situation in Finland and take care to follow the latest recommendations.

Inquiries:

Outi Äyräs-Blumberg, Senior Specialist, firstname.lastname@stm.fi (decree specifying the Act on the Electronic Processing of Client Data in Healthcare and Social Welfare)
Minna Saario, Director, firstname.lastname@stm.fi (general questions)