Covid passport for the vaccinated: what will be the …

Public *In order to encourage travel within the European Union and save the summer season, Brussels has taken a new step in the creation of a vaccination passport. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented this Wednesday the document they called Digital Green Certificate. A kind of health passport, printed or digital, so that citizens can travel safely during the covid-19 pandemic in the EU.

The proposal that Brussels has put on the table is a certificate that will be issued free of charge, with a QR and bilingual system (the one for each country and English), which would contain the basic information of the bearer.

What is the digital green certificate?

It is a standardized document that guarantees the recipient country that the person wearing it is not infected. A certificate that will have to be issued by the national authorities of each Member State, such as hospitals or testing centers.

According to the European Commission, this certificate it can serve as “proof of vaccination, test and recovery in order to obtain an exemption from restrictions on free movement established in a Member State for reasons of public health, such as the obligation to undergo diagnostic tests or to respect a period of quarantine “.

How did this idea come about?

Since the pandemic reached European soil, various measures have been adopted in order to limit the spread of the virus. Among them, travelers who are traveling are asked to provide a document guaranteeing that they are not infected. The lack of a standardized format within the EU and the fear of a summer without mobility and therefore without income for the tourism sector, has led a series of countries led by Greece to propose the creation of a vaccination passport.

Countries dependent on tourism such as Spain, Portugal and Malta immediately joined the group. However, other countries such as France, Luxembourg or Belgium have hesitated to consider it discriminatory against those who have not received the dose of the vaccine. Sensitivity that Brussels took into account when collecting the different cases.

What evidence does this certificate recognize?

The document will recognize people who have received the vaccine doses authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), who are Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstreZeneca and Janssen. The decision concerning the Russian Sputnik injection and the Chinese Sinopharm will be the decision of each capital.

With the end of guarantee free movement within the EU and the non-discrimination of people who have not yet been able to access the vaccine, Brussels proposes that the Covid-19 tests and certificates are also valid for those who have conquered the disease. However, self-diagnostic tests would not be included, as they were not considered reliable as they were not performed in controlled spaces.

What information will the document contain?

It will include a series of essential data, such as name, date of birth, issuing Member State and a unique identifier of the certificate. In addition, in the case of the vaccination certificate, the name of the vaccine and its manufacturer, the number of doses and the date of vaccination must appear.

In the case of a test certificate, in addition to the type of diagnostic test, it has been requested that the date and time of completion, as well as the test center and the result, appear. And, third and last, in the case of having antibodies after overcoming the disease, a document must be presented with the date of the positive result, the issuer of the certificate, the date of issue and the date of validity of that -this.

Who could apply for this certificate?

These certificates could be issued to EU citizens and their families, as well as third country nationals residing in the EU and visitors who have the right to travel to other Member States. And, as the head of the EU executive explained, the certificates will be valid in all EU member states and will be open to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

In addition, Brussels has planned that in the short term people who come from third countries and have been vaccinated, they can apply for the digital green certificate. In the medium term, the Commission is also studying the acceptance of certificates issued by other countries “within the framework of trust for make sure there is no fraud“

Will it be sure?

As the head of the Community Executive explains, this is a modern system for preventing counterfeiting. These certificates, which can be issued in digital format, or on paper, contain a QR code that verifies the authenticity, integrity and validity of the certificate.

For its creation, each issuing body, such as a hospital or a test center, will have its own digital signature key and all will be stored in a secure nationwide database. In order to verify this data, Brussels plans to invest in the creation of a gateway to verify all signatures in the EU and ensure the confidentiality of user data.

When will it start and for how long?

Brussels expects the European Green Certificate to be ready for this European summer. A very ambitious decision, considering that it must be accepted and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.

In addition, as the European Commission has made progress, the 27 will need to work on a “set of technical standards and the trust framework agreed in the electronic health network for implementation of certificates, which guarantee their interoperability and full respect for the protection of personal data “.

This is a temporary measure and, therefore, will cease to be in effect once the World Health Organization declares the end of the international public health emergency.