Information released yesterday confirmed that free digital Covid-19 certificates should start being issued this week. This provides proof of either a negative PCR test, vaccination or recovery from Covid-19.
According to guidelines published on Tuesday the 15th of June by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), these certificates can be used in all EU member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland and the forms can be can be accessed via the SNS 24 portal, SNS Mobile Application or sent as an email to the vaccinee.
However, the certificate is not an immunity pass and holders will have to obey any additional public health measures upon their arrival in a ‘member state’.
The documents QR code contains all the essential information needed, which will be used to securely verify authenticity, integrity and validity of the certificate, as well as standard information such as name, date of birth, issue date, and pertinent information about the vaccination, testing or recovery. All personal data is in accordance with the provisions of the EU COVID Digital Certificate Regulation, and all data relating to the health of the certificate holder are kept in the National Service’s databases where the document was issued.
The vaccination certificate, which can be issued automatically or requested by the holder with the information contained in the VACCINE system, is issued after the administration of each dose of vaccines against Covid-19 and indicates whether the vaccination schedule is complete.
The test certificate is issued after notification from the National Epidemiological Surveillance System (SINAVE) of a negative PCR or rapid molecular tests. Results are valid for 72 hours from date and time of collection.
The digital certificate of recovery, according to DGS guidelines, is issued between 11 and 180 days after a laboratory test has confirmed the diagnosis of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in those registering a “cured” status on the platform ‘ Trace-COVID-19.’ This document is issued at the request of the patient.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
