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COVID-19

Meet the German team developing the EU’s first vaccine passport

From video calls involving 130 people to no-shows at the general rehearsal, Josef Lieven and his team of software engineers faced their share of challenges on the road to Europe's digital Covid certificate.

Meet the German team developing the EU's first vaccine passport
An example of a digital vaccine passport, displayed in Potsdam on May 27th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild-Pool | Soeren Stache

But some 10 weeks later, they are ready to launch the region’s first online “vaccine passport”, with the lofty aim of making summer travel easier for Europeans.

“There’s a feeling of relief, and also pride that we managed to do it,” said Lieven from T-Systems, who jointly led the IT project with fellow German firm SAP.

The European Commission tasked both companies with developing a digital certificate that says whether a person has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, has tested negative or recovered from a coronavirus infection.

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The information is stored in a QR code that can be scanned and recognised by the 27 members of the European Union plus their neighbours Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

The application, often dubbed the “vaccine passport”, is the first digital health portal to be accepted across EU borders, while adhering to the bloc’s strict data protection laws.

“Even if it was challenging, we’ve come up with a solution in Europe that many other, even hi-tech regions and countries don’t have yet,” Lieven told AFP in a phone interview.

The digital vaccination certificates are currently being tested out in some vaccine centres across Germany. 

Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems and software maker SAP last year already created Germany’s privacy-conscious contact-tracing app.

They were later commissioned by Brussels to make several national virus-tracing apps talk to each other to better track the pandemic across borders.

Developing the software for the new digital health pass was “similar”, Lieven said, “but also more complex” because more countries wanted to have a say from the start.

And of course, time was of the essence with governments eager to make travel and tourism feel as normal as possible from July 1st, the kick-off to Europe’s crucial summer holiday season.

READ ALSO: When will tourism in Germany open up again?

False start

Using the same teams that worked on the previous corona apps, Lieven and his engineers started coding for the prototype before they even had the full specifications.

The European Parliament and EU member states reached a political deal on the certificate on May 20th, and until then there was always a risk that countries would demand unexpected changes.

Writing the software itself was just a part of the task, Lieven said, with data protection, safety issues and the immense international coordination all needing attention.

Lieven said one of the most “exciting” moments was the weekly video call where 130 representatives from participating countries got together to exchange updates or raise issues.

The final three weeks were the most stressful, dedicated to meticulously testing the link-up between each country’s national system and European servers.

Things didn’t get off to a smooth start when the two countries who were meant to launch the critical testing phase weren’t ready on the first day.

“So that Monday, we had no one we could test with. That was a surprise,” Lieven recalled.

But the kinks were resolved by the next day and “everything worked like a charm”.

Lieven is now looking forward to using the app for his own benefit. During a recent trip to see his son in Denmark, Lieven told him that “the next time you visit, your trip will be easier with the digital certificate”.

Member comments

  1. Is the app going to be available in the app stores for non EU countries? (In my case the US) I’m guessing no one knows this yet but if you find out can you please share?

    I have a hard time getting some apps because my app store for iOS is still the US. I have too much purchased there to permanently switch. Also, anytime I’ve switched to get an app my other Apple products treat me like a different person for a while.

    Thanks in advance! 🙂

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HEALTH

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

It’s back again: amid sinking temperatures, the incidence of Covid-19 has been slowly rising in Germany. But is this enough to merit worrying about the virus?

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

More people donning face masks in supermarkets, friends cancelling plans last minute due to getting sick with Covid-19. We might have seen some of those familiar reminders recently that the coronavirus is still around, but could there really be a resurgence of the virus like we experienced during the pandemic years?

According to virologists, the answer seems to be ‘maybe’: since July, the number of people newly infected with Covid-19 has been slowly rising from a very low level.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), nine people per 100,000 inhabitants became newly infected in Germany last week. A year ago, there were only around 270 reported cases.

Various Corona variants are currently on the loose in the country. According to the RKI,  the EG.5 (also called Eris) and XBB.1.16 lines were each detected in the week ending September 3rd with a share of just under 23 percent. 

The highly mutated variant BA.2.86 (Pirola), which is currently under observation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also arrived in the country this week, according to RKI. 

High number of unreported case

The RKI epidemiologists also warned about a high number of unreported cases since hardly any testing is done. They pointed out that almost half of all registered sewage treatment plants report an increasing viral load in wastewater tests.

The number of hospital admissions has also increased slightly, but are still a far cry from the occupation rate amid the pandemic. Last week it was two per 100,000 inhabitants. In the intensive care units, only 1.2 percent of all beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Still, a good three-quarters (76.4 percent) of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least twice and thus have basic immunity, reported RKI. 

Since Monday, doctors’ offices have been vaccinating with the adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer, available to anyone over 12 years old, with a vaccine for small children set to be released the following week and one for those between 5 and 11 to come out October 2nd.

But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has so far only recommended that people over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions get vaccinated.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who should get a Covid jab this autumn in Germany?

“The pandemic is over, the virus remains,” he said. “We cannot predict the course of coming waves of corona, but it is clear that older people and people with pre-existing conditions remain at higher risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19”

The RKI also recommended that people with a cold voluntarily wear a mask. Anyone exhibiting cough, cold, sore throat or other symptoms of a respiratory illness should voluntarily stay at home for three to five days and take regular corona self-tests. 

However, further measures such as contact restrictions are not necessary, he said.

One of many diseases

As of this autumn, Covid-19 could be one of many respiratory diseases. As with influenza, there are no longer absolute infection figures for coronavirus.

Saarbrücken pharmacist Thorsten Lehr told German broadcaster ZDF that self-protection through vaccinations, wearing a mask and getting tested when symptoms appear are prerequisites for surviving the Covid autumn well. 

Only a new, more aggressive mutation could completely turn the game around, he added.

On April 7th of this year, Germany removed the last of its over two-year long coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing in some public places.

READ ALSO: German doctors recommend Covid-19 self-tests amid new variant

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