Press release by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland:
Digital vaccination certificates available in My Kanta Pages in stages

Finland’s digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate will be available in the My Kanta pages as of 26 May. However, not all users will able to view their vaccination certificate on the launch date.

The COVID-19 vaccination certificates will be available in stages because it can take some time before vaccination information is updated in the My Kanta Pages as data in different patient information systems is being corrected retrospectively.

Some healthcare organisations may not be able to make the necessary changes to their patient information systems before the launch date of the Finnish COVID-19 vaccination certificate. In such cases users will be able to view their vaccination certificate sometime after the launch date. Inaccurate recording of vaccination information by healthcare providers is another possible reason for a missing vaccination certificate or missing vaccination information in the My Kanta Pages.

In the future, users will be able to view their COVID-19 vaccination certificate in the My Kanta Pages within five days of vaccination. Five days is the maximum time limit for transferring data to the Kanta Services under the Decree on Patient Documents.

Finland’s COVID-19 vaccination certificate, available in the My Kanta Pages, will contain information of the COVID-19 vaccinations received by the certificate holder. The Finnish certificate can be used only when crossing the border to an EU Member State that accepts it as proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Each EU Member State can decide whether a national vaccination certificate entitles the holder to cross their border. Therefore, the Finnish certificate does not mean that its holder can travel freely everywhere in the EU. 

As a rule, people should 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.

People can use the Finnish vaccination certificate until the EU COVID-19 certificate /Digital Green Certificate) comes available.

EU COVID-19 certificate due in July

As of July, people in Finland will be able to use the EU COVID-19 certificate, called the Digital Green Certificate, which will cover three types of certificates: vaccination certificates, test certificates and certificates for persons who have recovered from COVID-19. The three certificate types will be launched at the same time, and they will be available in the My Kanta Pages. Once the Digital Green Certificate is available in Finland, it will replace the Finnish vaccination certificate.

The EU COVID-19 certificate will be available across the EU once the Regulation on interoperable certificates on vaccination, testing and recovery (Digital Green Certificate) enters into force and all the Member States have implemented it. The regulation is expected to enter into force on 30 June, and the Member States have six weeks to implement it. This may mean that not all Member States will be able to issue and read certificates at the same time.

Finland, too, must be able to issue and read Digital Green Certificates within six weeks of the entry into force of the EU regulation. Finland along with other EU Member States can allow border crossing for holders of other kinds of COVID-19 certificates. However, people must always check before travelling what kinds of certificates are required in their destination.

EU Member States must inform other Member States and the European Commission if they require certificate holders to undergo testing or quarantine or if they deny entry to a certificate holder.

The purpose of the Digital Green Certificate is to facilitate free movement. Member States decide themselves if they want to use the certificate for other purposes.

How to get your vaccination certificate from My Kanta Pages

Finland’s COVID-19 vaccination certificate will be available in the My Kanta pages as of 26 May. The EU’s Digital Green Certificate, too, will be available in the My Kanta Pages at a later date.

How to get your vaccination certificate:

1. Log on to your My Kanta Pages at kanta.fi using the identification token of your choice, such as online banking codes or mobile certificate.
2. Select COVID-19 certificate from the left-hand menu. There is also a link to the certificate section on the front page of My Kanta Pages.
3. To get your certificate click on the link “Check if you have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate (pdf)”. If you have a vaccination certificate, it will open in a new tab in pdf format.

The Finnish COVID-19 vaccination certificate is only available on the My Kanta Pages. If you do not use the My Kanta Pages and you do not authorise anyone to use it on your behalf, you can ask your healthcare provider to give you a similar certificate of your COVID-19 vaccination.

When the Digital Green Certificate is launched in July, you can get it from the My Kanta Pages or you can ask your health centre or other healthcare provider to print it out for you. 

Inquiries:

Minna Saario, Director, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, firstname.lastname@stm.fi (general questions)
Aleksi Yrttiaho, Director of Information Services, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), firstname.lastname@thl.fi
Marina Lindgren, Director of Information Services, firstname.lastname@kela.fi (questions about the Kanta Services)