THE HAGUE - Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten are developing their own app with which vaccinated residents can generate the Digital Corona Certificate (DCC). It is the intention that this vaccination certificate meets the European requirements. The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is assisting the countries in developing the app.
Residents of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba can use a specially developed web portal. Because the majority do not have a BSN number and therefore do not have access to DigiD, it is not possible to obtain the digital vaccination certificate through the usual method. “That is why an exception route will be created for them. This means that they can get proof from their vaccination setter. The vaccination setter will be able to generate this proof by means of the web portal. As of mid-July, the QR code of the paper vaccination certificate can also be read in the CoronaCheck app," writes Minister De Jonge to the Dutch Parliament.
“For all Dutch people in the Kingdom, and therefore also those who live on the BES islands and in the CAS countries, the Undersecretary for Health, Welfare and Sport and I are striving to simplify travel and implementation of the DCC in the short term,” says the minister. In the letter, he also outlines the current situation regarding corona in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom:
“The number of infections and hospitalizations on the Caribbean islands remains stable. On Sint Maarten, as indicated in the previous letter, a slightly increased number of infections and hospital admissions is still visible. There are no positive cases to report on Saba and St. Eustatius.
As indicated in the previous situation letters, the measures on the Leeward Islands are gradually being relaxed. For the time being, this has not led to the infections rising again, as a result of which relaxations are slowly being implemented and the islands can receive more tourists. At the beginning of June, the first cruise ships docked on the ABC islands. Together with the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the islands are closely monitoring the consequences of the relaxation and the increase in tourism.
Due to the increased number of infections on the French side of Sint Maarten and the increasing number of infections on the Dutch side, additional measures have been taken on Sint Maarten on the advice of the RIVM. These will remain in effect for the time being.
The vaccination campaigns in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom are progressing well. In Aruba and Curaçao at least one injection has now been administered to more than 65% of the adult population, and to 39% of the adults on Sint Maarten. The vaccination rate is also increasing on the BES islands. More than 75% of adults on Bonaire have been vaccinated at least once and the vaccination rate among adults on St. Eustatius is currently 50%. The campaign on Saba has been completed, where more than 90% of the adult population has been vaccinated twice. At the moment, an approach is used on all other islands that focuses on groups that are more difficult to reach. For example, vaccination teams on Bonaire go into the neighborhoods and a pop-up location is regularly opened in a neighborhood on Sint Maarten. The large injection sites on the islands will now be gradually scaled down. Smaller locations will remain open.”