A number of health board workers suspected of manufacturing fake proofs of vaccination against Covid-19 have been suspended, health minister Hugo de Jonge has told MPs.

The suspects allegedly used the system to enter false vaccine registrations, allowing the people who had requested them to generate QR codes. QR codes will allow entry to cafes and bars and other venues from Saturday, and also facilitate travel.

The fraud, which was discovered some weeks ago, involves an unspecified number of regional health boards.

It is not clear how many workers were involved, or how many false QR codes are now in circulation. The falsely obtained codes cannot be cancelled because this is a technical impossibility, the central health board GGD GHOR said. It will not disclose more information  pending the investigation.

A 20-year-old from Alphen aan de Rijn was arrested on Monday and more arrests may follow police said.

‘We will not tolerate workers abusing their position at regional health boards or the national call centre to commit fraud,’ a central health board spokesman said in a statement.

Despite the fact that workers need a VOG certificate of good behaviour and have to sign a confidentiality agreement ‘we cannot, unfortunately, rule out completely that workers will abuse the system they have access to. (..) Infringement can lead to immediate dismissal,’ the spokesman said.