Vaccination scandal in Brandenburg: Apparently, more than 100,000 people have been sent their digital vaccination certificate by mistake, although the two vaccinations against the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 have not yet been administered to them completely.

Vaccination scandal in Brandenburg: Ministry of Health sends out more than 100,000 false Corona letters

This is reported by the Lausitzer Rundschau online, referring to a letter from the Brandenburg Ministry of Health received by a citizen. "Dear Ms. (...), you have been fully vaccinated against the Corona virus in a vaccination center or by a mobile vaccination team in the state of Brandenburg," it says right at the beginning of the message. The woman from Cottbus had not yet received her second vaccination and thus had not yet been fully immunized.

According to the Berliner Zeitung, the letter, dated June 16, 2021, was sent to a further 460,000 Brandenburg residents who had not received their first injection from a doctor or hospital. And that was despite the fact that by that date, a total of only 382,000 Brandenburgers had received both vaccinations. Since only a portion of these 382,000 had received their full vaccination protection in a vaccination center or from mobile teams, this means that more than 100,000 people must have received their Corona exemption letter wrongly. The exact number is unclear at this time.

False vaccination certificates sent in Brandenburg: Health minister responds

"This is undoubtedly unfortunate and I regret it," Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (63, Greens) is quoted as saying by the Berliner Zeitung. Suspected is a failure of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, which runs the vaccination centers - and should only send second vaccinated a QR code. According to BZ information, head Peter Noack has so far remained silent on the matter.

In a July 9 press release, however, Nonnemacher rejects the sharp criticism from the Left faction and emphasizes that the certificate is not proof of vaccination. "It serves exclusively to create a digital proof of vaccination. This is only possible if there is a complete vaccination." On the first page of the letter, there is indeed talk of a complete vaccination, "should only one vaccination be present, the facts are clarified on the second page," the health minister said. There, in addition to "the date of the vaccination(s) and the vaccine received, the notation 'first vaccination/re-vaccination' is 1/2 in the case of a first vaccination, and 2/2 in the case of two vaccinations," the press release states. The complete vaccination protection is only indicated when the QR code is transferred to the digital vaccination certificate if both vaccinations are present - i.e., first and second vaccination, according to the notice.Whether the "manual" transfer into the yellow vaccination booklet with the present letter does not lead to incorrect entries and confusion remains questionable.The discussion about vaccinations and associated relief is currently coming to a head in Germany. One state insurance boss is even calling for a travel ban on the unvaccinated.

Digital vaccination certificate - how it works

The vaccination certificate consists of a QR code that can be scanned. A digital signature is supposed to make it forgery-proof. The vaccination certificate can be stored on mobile devices or presented in printed form. The digital vaccination certificate is not mandatory. Corona vaccinations can still be verified using a conventional vaccination certificate. In Germany, the digital certificate has been issued routinely for vaccinations since mid-June. People who were vaccinated earlier can have the digital certificate issued subsequently free of charge, for example in pharmacies. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, around 40 million certificates have been issued in Germany to date. Click here for the Corona news ticker in Germany.

Image by Wilfried Pohnke