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Yellow booklets: How proving vaccinations in Germany changes in 2022

The Local Germany
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Yellow booklets: How proving vaccinations in Germany changes in 2022
Switzerland's Covid app is now recognised in the EU. Photo: DPA

Some German states have started phasing out the yellow vaccine booklet.

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More German states could be on course to phase out the traditional yellow vaccine booklet in 2022.

German doctors typically write in and sign them whenever one of their patients receives a vaccine for any disease, not just COVID-19.

However, the country’s unprecedented campaign to vaccinate its population against Covid has brought up fresh concerns that the booklets are easy to forge—with hundreds of fakes recently discovered in Bremen.

Both Baden-Württemberg and Berlin have stopped accepting them as proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter venues, instead requiring digital QR codes. As 2022 began, Saarland followed suit—with the possibility of more federal states gradually phasing them out.

What are the alternatives to the yellow vaccine booklet?

When someone gets vaccinated for COVID-19 in Germany, they receive a QR code they can enter into a variety of apps, storing important information about what type of vaccine they got and when.

The QR code can then get scanned when they enter venues like gyms, restaurants, or theatres—or when travelling within the EU.

Commonly used apps include the country’s Corona-Warn-App and CovPass, but some pharmacies are now offering an alternative card to people who either don’t have a smartphone, or simply want a physical document proving their vaccination.

The Immunkarte, developed by a Leipzig start-up, is available either online or at about 7,500 partner pharmacies across Germany for slightly less than €10.

READ ALSO: How the rules of the EU Covid certificate for travel will change from February

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For non-Covid vaccines, many German health insurers have begun offering electronic patient records that doctors can now log their vaccines into. The ePA can be accessed through health insurance apps and most recently, through desktop computer applications.

 

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lyssa77 2022/01/07 13:09
"When someone gets vaccinated for COVID-19 in Germany, they receive a QR code they can enter into a variety of apps, storing important information about what type of vaccine they got and when." This is false. Many if not most of us Americans are vaccinated on base in Germany or back home in the USA before coming over for deployment. We have to show our CDC cards to get the QR codes and it isn't always easy. This whole thing is a huge mess and even when people do everything right (vaccinated and boostered), they can still be treated like 2nd or 3rd class citizens in the country they are living in. Unacceptable.
  • rachel.loxton 2022/01/14 09:53
    Hi Lyssa77 thanks for your comment. We've heard a lot of similar issues and have contacted the Health Ministry several times to ask about it. Really is a big problem.
janeheywood870 2022/01/06 23:47
Good news. I'm struggling with smartphone and have applied for this new card. Cost €9,90 but better option than paper and with 3 jabs hope it will allow me to travel this year.

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