The digital Covid certificate is now one of the records of passengers wishing to travel in Europe. The 27 member states of the European Union (UE) have introduced the scheme since Thursday, 01 July, to make it easier to travel within Europe.

Covid digital certificate is a way for EU (European Union) citizens to prove that they have been vaccinated, recently tested PCR negative, and cured of Covid-19.

At the moment, 200 million certificates have already been issued, according to the European Commission. The certificate is available and recognized in 27 EU Member States. It is free of charge and Europeans and nationals can download it or obtain a paper copy.

On the certificate, there is a QR code and a unique digital signature key to which information about, for example, a person's vaccinations, hospital, test center, etc. is stored. However, the passenger data will not be stored at the airport during the verification process.

Information not complete

According to the information received from the first trial in Brussels, the device is not fully operational. The information in the QR code is not yet complete. Some necessary information is missing from the code. "If we only know that the code is valid, but we don't know the details, this data is insufficient for passengers," said Brussels Airlines spokesperson Maaike Andries.

So, each EU member state decides on its own travel rules. As a result, according to the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, the certificate is sufficient.  The certificate allows passengers to avoid testing or quarantine upon arrival. However, each member country could take a necessary measure if the health crisis on departure or arrival worsens.

What types of vaccines are accepted?

So far, only 4 vaccines are accepted by the EU such as: the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine known as Comirnaty; the Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZ) or Vaxzevria; the Moderna vaccine called Spikevax and the Janssen vaccine widely known as Johnson & Johnson.

But the Covishield vaccine has not been authorized by the EU even though it is the third name of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

AstraZeneca is working with the EMA (European Medicines Agency) to get the Covishield vaccine approved for vaccination passports. But the EMA says there is currently no application for marketing authorization.

On the other hand, although the EU has refused the vaccine, the WHO (World Health Organization) has authorized its use in emergencies. As a result, some member countries may well agree to allow Covishield vaccinated travelers to enter their countries. In addition, member countries such as Greece accept other vaccines such as the Chinese vaccine Sinovac, the Russian Sptunik V etc.

Santie

Photo Credit: Futura-Sciences

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