Travel Tip Tuesday | EU Covid App
What is the EU Digital Covid App
According to the EU website as of now, 23 European Union Countries are using a digital covid certificate app that allows free movement between countries with the rest of the bloc gearing up to participate by July 1. Almost 40% of all adults in the EU have received at least their first vaccine dose.
An EU Digital Covid Certificate is simply digital proof that a person has either been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result, or recovered from Covid-19. This digital app comes with a QR code, it is free of charge and is in English. It is valid in all EU countries. People can also request a paper certificate. Both the digital and paper formats will have a common design and have a QR code that contains essential information ensuring that the certificate is authentic. The QR code contains a signature to protect it against falsification. The facility issuing the certificate will store the information in a secure database in each country. The digital certificate will facilitate free movement inside the EU but it is not a pre-condition to free movement.
The certificate contains information such as name, date of birth, date of issuance, and relevant information about the vaccine, test, or recovery as well as a unique identifier. All health information will remain with the member state where it is issued.
Currently, the countries that are connected to the EUDCC gateway are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. Malta, Hungary, and Finland are in the test phase of the program. Non-EU countries that are participating include Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway.
Forbes has recently reported that this app could potentially be made available to non-E.U. citizens including citizens of the United States. U.S. citizens living in Europe can request a certificate from a member state if they have been vaccinated or have had covid.
Countries around the world are introducing digital systems that allow authorities to verify vaccination status. Japan will issue a Covid-19 vaccination certificate to citizens traveling abroad and Canada is adapting a free ArriveCAN app where travelers must be ready to show their ArriveCAN receipt when entering the country.