How and where to apply for the “COVID passport” which has just entered into force in the European Union

The European Union’s COVID digital certificate (EU), commonly known as the ‘COVID passport’, entered into force this month in all member states.

Called the Green Digital Certificate, it will allow citizens who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, who have tested negative for the virus or who have recently recovered from the disease to travel within the block. A digital tool that also seems attractive for Latin America, but we doubt that it will be possible to implement it in the region.

The EU’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) has so far approved the application of Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but not the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm, nor the Russian Sputnik V. Precisely, the Chinese vaccines have been administered mainly in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. While Russian has been applied in Argentina and Mexico. In view of this, the question also arises as to whether Latin Americans inoculated with these vaccines will be affected to enter the EU. They are starting to think about the idea of ​​making Latin America viable, where they could work on a digital passport compatible with that of the EU.

Beyond concentrating this tool for union passengers, the large number of Latin Americans with a European passport makes the certificate a possible management, however, people from Latin America will not be able to take it to travel to Europe.

The document certifies that a person is either vaccinated, has passed COVID-19, or has tested negative in a PCR test. That is, and in the words of the commission itself, it is a certificate of “vaccination, diagnostic test and recovery”. It is free to obtain and can be requested by anyone with a European passport, including children.

Its management requires having received one of, to date, four vaccines approved by the EU -Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen-.

The certificate indicates whether the entire guideline has been administered or is in progress. Diagnostic test: have obtained a negative result on an antigen test during the last 48 hours or on a PCR test during the last 72 hours. Meanwhile, in the case of having tested positive in a PCR test more than eleven days ago, but less than six months ago.

Both in digital format and on paper, the COVID passport consists of a QR code which, once scanned, provides access to accreditation. This code also has a digital signature to prevent falsification, it contains the full name, date of birth, certificate issuer and an identifier. Depending on the case, it will also display:

Accreditation of the vaccination (the type of vaccine, its manufacturer, the number of doses administered and the date of each puncture), accreditation of the diagnosis (the type of test, the date, time and place where it was carried out and the result (positive or negative) or proof of recovery with the date of the result of a PCR test and the period of validity It is not yet an essential condition for traveling, but it aims to facilitate the travel process by avoiding possible controls such as quarantines or additional tests.

This point is particularly highlighted by the European Commission, which indicates: “having been vaccinated will not be a prerequisite for travel. […] the objective of the EU COVID digital certificate is to facilitate free movement, but this is not an obstacle ”.

The document has a validity period which varies according to the type of accreditation. In the case of vaccination, it does not establish a period of duration, for the diagnostic test it is focused on 48 or 72 hours, depending on each country and in the recovery file it has a maximum of 180 days.

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