Sweden announced it would start the development of digital vaccine certificates, to be used for travel and potentially more, following a similar move by Denmark a day earlier.

The two Nordic countries both said the certificates would be designed to enable citizens to travel aboard, but also hinted they could potentially be used to check whether someone was vaccinated if they were attending something like a sports or cultural event.

“With a digital vaccine certificate it will be quick and easy to prove a completed vaccination”, - Sweden’s minister for digital development Anders Ygeman said in a statement.

The Swedish government said they hoped to have the infrastructure to issue digital certificates in place by June.

Denmark, which announced their programme a day earlier, said they would initially publish a registry online that could be accessed to check someone’s vaccination status, which it hopes to have in place in late February, while it develops a long-term technical solution.

While the Danish government said it would hold off a final decision on whether the “corona passports” could be used for more than just travel purposes – pending more research into whether vaccinated people could still transmit the virus – the aim is that it will “contribute to a gradual, sound and appropriate reopening of Denmark”.