Pharmacies across Germany have had to temporarily stop issuing coronavirus vaccine passes after it was found that hackers could grant themselves guest access to the online portal and issue unauthorised certificates.

German vaccine pass portal suffering security issues

On Thursday, the Health Ministry announced it had been notified of certain security issues with the German Pharmacists’ Association (DAV) web portal, the platform used to generate COVID pass certificates. An investigation by the Handelsblatt newspaper revealed that hackers could use fake documents to grant themselves guest access to the portal and generate vaccine certificates, which can then be given or sold to third parties. However, there is no evidence that this weak point has been exploited by anyone other than the Handelsblatt’s investigators.

In response to the systems security issues, thousands of pharmacies across the country have had their access to the vaccine certificates revoked on Wednesday and IT experts have been called in to address the issue, as well as any other potential security problems. “It is being checked whether or which additional security mechanisms can or should be implemented against misuse,” said the DAV. “It has not yet been determined when the issuing of certificates will be resumed.”

Digital vaccine passes have been available for vaccinated people in Germany since June 14, 2021, with people being able to obtain one for free from their local pharmacy. On July 8, anyone who had recovered from the coronavirus or had received their first jab was also made eligible for a COVID pass.

FDP blames health minister for vaccine certificate issues

FDP health policy spokesperson Christine Aschenburg-Dungus has blamed Jens Spahn, Germany’s Federal Minister of Health, for the issues surrounding the vaccine certificates. “We could have saved today’s chaos and a lot of money if the federal government had acted in good time,” she said, adding that it would have been easier and safer for citizens if “the QR code could have been transmitted directly since the start of the vaccination campaign.”

“With timely action on the introduction of a digital vaccination pass, as the FDP parliamentary group demanded in 2019 - long before the pandemic - all of this effort wouldn’t have been necessary,” the FDP politician told reporters.