New Czech Health Minister shows support for Covid-19 vaccine passports

New Czech Health Minister Petr Arenberger supports the introduction of Covid-19 vaccine passports in the form of a mobile app, he told reporters on Friday.

The Covid-19 passport app would show whether its holder is vaccinated against Covid-19, has had a negative test, or contracted the disease during the past 90 days.

The passports could be required for admittance to cultural events as well as restaurants, Arenberger said.

Deputy PM and Interior Minister Jan Hamáček had also discussed the possibility of visiting restaurants with Covid-19 passports.

Arenberger called a Covid-19 passport app a very smart system.

"You will identify yourself on a mobile device with a QR code that will show some particular information about you at the moment, but not reveal your identity," Arenberger said, adding that the system has been designed to preserve personal data protection.

The Health Ministry is currently negotiating with other sectors on where such an app could be used.

Former health minister Jan Blatný said in early February that organizers of public events could raise their capacity if they insisted on negative Covid-19 tests from all participants.

Negative tests could also allow people to be accommodated in hotels, he added at the time. This should be part of planned modifications to the PES epidemic system which have not yet been made.

Arenberger also supports moving away from the use of antigen tests for Covid-19 testing to more accurate PCR tests, especially for schools. 

The use of PCR tests instead of antigen ones can be taken into consideration when the epidemic burden has declined enough for sampling points and laboratories to be able manage this, the minister said.