• 23/12/2022
• By wizewebsite
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COVID passport: when will it be valid, how to apply and where to get it? | Finance.cz<

The EU COVID passport or digital EU certificate has been approved as part of the European Union legislation. EU member states must now implement it into their law. However, the Czechs (almost as usual) are not in too much of a hurry, and the approval of the amendment on the COVID passport is in sight, which may please the people who protested in front of the Chamber of Deputies due to protective measures and the introduction of COVID certificates.

1. What is a COVID passport?
2. How to get a COVID passport?
3. When will the COVID passport start working?

Source: Depositphotos

What is the COVID passport - EU digital COVID certificate?

The COVID passport, or EU digital COVID certificate, is a confirmation by which the person can prove that they have been tested for the coronavirus (the age of the test is a maximum of 48 hours), vaccinated ( a person is considered vaccinated 14 days after the administration of the 2nd dose of the vaccine, increased immunity is already from the 22nd day after the first dose of the vaccine) or the person has experienced the disease.

The state is now issuing certificates on the basis of an extraordinary measure, however, the Minister of Health, Adam Vojtěch, cannot guarantee the long-term issuance of certificates without the necessary legislative support, which will be discussed in the Chamber of Deputies.

The COVID passport is a pan-European system that is supposed to simplify travel between individual states and at the same time unify the rules. The COVID passport is to be valid on the territory of the European Union and, based on bilateral agreements, also in other countries.

The COVID passport is not a condition for free movement and is not considered a travel document.

Tip: Tests for the coronavirus have become cheaper!

How to get a COVID passport - EU digital COVID certificate?

Certificates about having the disease, a negative test result for the coronavirus or vaccinations can be obtained on the website of the Citizen Vaccination Portal (ocko.uzis.cz).

The system has been operating since the beginning of June.

To sign up for certification, you must sign in through eidentity (which is your eCitizen or bank identity). If you have had vaccinations, you can register using your birth number and ID number.

If you log into the system using your birth number and ID card and entered your phone number during the test or when registering for vaccination, you will receive an authorization SMS.

After entering the code from SMS or logging in via eidentity, certificates will be displayed on the right side of the screen, after clicking the mouse they will change to black pictograms (QR codes) with certificates on the right side.

Processing the certificate should also be possible at CzechPoint branches. The doctor can issue the certificate, but it is not his duty.

The certificate can therefore be obtained online as well as in paper form.

Already after the first dose of vaccination, you can apply for a certificate on the pages of the Citizen Vaccination Portal.

There are 3 types of certificates, depending on what the certificate can prove:

1. Certificate of previous illness (within 180 days)
2. Certificate of negative test result, it will be of two types:
3. Certificate of completed vaccination, two types according to the phase of vaccination :

Vaccination is recognized for all anti-covid vaccines that have received EU registration. However, some countries will also accept other vaccines (for example, Sputnik V in Hungary or Slovakia), which have not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Some states will also accept a test with current antibody levels, as high antibody levels can be present for more than 180 days in some individuals.

The certificate states:

You can prove yourself with the EU digital COVID certificate when traveling, in restaurants, in entertainment facilities, when entering establishments or during a possible inspection.

If you come across terms such as Digital Green Certificate or Green Number Certificate, these are the same certificates issued after June 1, 2021. They all meet the requirements set by the EU.

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When will the European COVID passport start working?

The COVID passport system is officially due to start on July 1, 2021 and is supposed to work for 12 months. However, as already mentioned, issuing in the Czech Republic started already on June 1, 2021, but it is not yet fully covered by legislation and operates only on the basis of an extraordinary measure.

The Health Committee recommended that the Chamber of Deputies approve the EU amendment on the COVID passport, preferably in an accelerated procedure, which unfortunately did not pass.

Now it must be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the President in the classic mode, which may be a problem until July 1, 2021.

The final confirmation of the COVID passports rests with all member countries, which also have the implementation of the system in their hands.

Covid passport and travel

Traveling through certificates will be easier and countries are already divided based on the Covid traffic light, which unifies the rules for travel between countries and determines the risk of infection and the level of protective measures when traveling to and from each countries.

In practice, it should look like this: at the airport or at the border, a reader will be attached to your certificate, which you can have on paper, in a tablet, phone or laptop, and as soon as the reader turns green, you will be able to enjoy your time in a foreign country.

However, each country may have different conditions (see recognition of non-certified vaccines or a longer period of recognition of tests), but if you meet the above conditions and get a COVID passport, you don't have to worry about traveling.

Tip: How to download the čTečka application to verify the validity of COVID certificates?