In the pilot project

The vaccination record will be electronic for everyone in future

Whether digital or still on paper, all vaccinations are documented in detail by the doctors.

(Bild: pix4U/stock.adobe.com)

The yellow booklet will soon be a thing of the past, and the "stitches" will be recorded digitally for everyone. Among other things, this should minimize the administrative workload for GPs and patients.

The healthcare system also wants to move away from analog records: In future, it will be mandatory for everyone to view and register vaccinations exclusively digitally.

The yellow booklet is to be replaced by the new "e-vaccination certificate" - which is currently still in pilot operation. This change could save GPs valuable time. In view of the shortage of doctors, a reduction in the administrative workload in the sector would be desirable: "If the electronic vaccination certificate works well and makes doctors' work easier, no one will surely oppose it," says Wolfgang Ziegler, chairman of the curia of registered doctors in Upper Austria.

Skepticism due to cost aspect
However, this would require well-functioning software that makes digital vaccination entries as simple and quick as possible. In the GP sector, only the cost aspect would cause some scepticism: "In addition to a good program, there must also be a good cost regulation in this regard," says Ziegler.

The digitization measure is also expected to improve the handling of possible future disease outbreaks. The electronic vaccination record is intended to make vaccination rates and gaps more visible.

Concerns about data protection
Critical voices, however, are expressing concerns about data protection. Martin Haditsch, a specialist in hygiene and microbiology, virology and infection epidemiology from Leonding, fears that data collection will "disenfranchise all citizens through maximum control".

The Ministry of Health states: "The amendment in question takes into account the criticism of the data protection authority regarding the e-vaccination certificate and adapts the existing legal situation accordingly in order to make the e-vaccination certificate secure and correct in terms of data protection law."

„Krone“-Kommentar

Ist doch längst überfällig

"When did you have your last tetanus vaccination?" asked the nurse at the hospital, while an amused surgeon operated on me to remove a long slate from a place that cannot be named here. The answer "I'm not sure" had not yet been spoken when I already had a needle in my arm. It later turned out that I would still have been vaccinated. Never mind, no harm done.

The electronic vaccination record is long overdue. How many of us really know when we were immunized against what and when we need a booster? It also includes allergies of all kinds and important operations and previous illnesses, which can be called up by doctors if necessary.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

If the electronic vaccination record had been available two years ago, I would have saved myself a needle prick. In an emergency - when there is more at stake than a slate - this knowledge might save a life.