EU Digital Covid Certificate

EU Digital Covid Certificate confirms the right to free movement in Europe during the pandemic. It will, however, not serve as a travel document nor a will it be a condition to exercise the right of free movement. It will not be a pre-condition to access a plane, train, bus or a ferry.

EU Digital Covid Certificate will be an additional form of informing about a health status and supplementing the solutions hitherto employed at the borders. All currently used solutions will still be in operation.

As the EU Digital Covid Certificate does not constitute the right to travel, each person travelling abroad is requested to check current regulations and limitations with regard to pandemic in a given country.

The Re-open EU (https://reopen.europa.eu/pl/) could serve as a helpful tool in this area. Re-open EU presents current public health measures introduced  in various countries, together with an interactive form which enables checking particular travel conditions with regard to a country of departure and country of arrival.

EU Digital Covid Certificate will be available in a digital form or as a hard copy. It will confirm that a given person has been vaccinated against COVID-19 or alternatively, has a negative test result or has recovered from infection. The tourists with EU Digital Covid Certificate will not be subjected to quarantine or undergo additional tests.

Each person vaccinated in Poland or filling in the requirements with regard to conditions of other certificates will have access to the document within the Patient’s Internet Account (Internetowe Konto Pacjenta).

Foreigners without a PESEL number or access to the Patient’s Internet Account (Internetowe Konto Pacjenta) while registering for a vaccination or at the vaccination point will register their Polish phone number or e-mail address, to which the certificate will be sent once the person fulfils relevant requirements (coming soon). Until this solution is deployed, foreigners without a PESEL number will be able to request a printout of the certificate at the vaccination points/healthcare facilities.

Certificate can be obtained by:

• persons over the age of 12 who have the right to vaccination,
• persons without age limits – for the certificate on test results,
• persons without age limits – for the certificate on recovery from COVID-19 infection.

The document will be available in a digital form or as a hard copy. It will confirm that a given person has been vaccinated against COVID-19 or alternatively, has a negative test result or has recovered from infection. Each person vaccinated in Poland or filling in the requirements with regard to other conditions of the certificate will have access to the document within the Patient’s Internet Account (Internetowe Konto Pacjenta).

EU Digital Covid Certificate can be issued and used in all EU Member States, enhancing the free movement. All EU citizens and third-countries nationals residing in EU countries with the right to travel to other EU countries can use the certificate free of charge.

The fact of being vaccinated will not be a prerequisite condition for travel. All EU citizens have the fundamental right to free movement in the EU territory, which is executed irrespectively of the proof of vaccination. The same rule applies to third-countries individuals staying or residing in the EU countries, who have the right to travel to other Member States. EU Digital Covid Certificate will help in exercising this right, also thanks to certificates on test results and recovery.

EU Digital Covid Certificate can serve as a proof of vaccination, having a test result or recovery, enabling to avoid limitations to the free movement introduced in a given country due to health condition (such as a requirement to undergo a test or a quarantine).

If in a given Member State the presentation of the proof of vaccination is lifting the limitations to free movement, such Member State will have to treat in the same way the proof of vaccination issued by another Member State with regard to the vaccinations approved in the EU.

Each holder of EU Digital Covid Certificate travelling to a given Member State will be granted the same rights as the citizens of this country who have been vaccinated, have a negative test result or have recovered.

Member States who would require the EU Digital Covid Certificate holders to undergo a quarantine or a test will have to notify the European Commission and all Member States and present the reasoning for such a decision, 48hrs before introducing such limitation.

Entry into operation in the EU is planned for 1st July 2021.

EU Digital Covid Certificate does not constitute the right to travel, as it is only a document confirming the fact of being vaccinated, having recovered from COVID-19 or having a negative test result. Before executing each travel it is advised to check the destination country’s current regulations, since they can vary and be subject to changes.  EU Digital Covid Certificate will constitute the system of mutually respected certificates for travel purposes.

EU Digital Covid Certificate will contain the most important and necessary information, such as holder’s name and family name, date of birth, Member State issuing the certificate and unique identifier of the certificate.

On each certificate there will be an information stating  that it is not a travel document.

Research on vaccinations, tests and recovery from COVID-19 is still being developed, including the new types of the virus. Therefore before travelling please check current regulations on public health restrictions and limitations in the destination country.

The data included in the QR, together with a name, surname, date of birth and unique certificate identifier will be sufficient in most cases to verify holder’s status. Each certificate holder will have access to a wider scope of data on each certificate, irrescpectively of its form.

The certificates are designed in a such way to allow for presentation of the basic or enhanced dataset.

The enhanced scope of data available to the holder of the certificate:

Certificate data scope - vaccination:

• Name and surname of the certificate holder,
• Date of birth of the certificate holder,
• The disease that the vaccination concerns,
• Data regarding vaccine name of the vaccine, name of the manufacturer),
• Number of the doses in vaccination course
• Date of vaccination,
• Country of vaccination,
• Information about the issuer of the certificate and the unique identifier of the certificate.

Certificate data scope - test:

• Name and surname of the certificate holder,
• Date of birth of the certificate holder,
• The disease that the test concerns,
• Information about the test performed (test type, test name, test manufacturer name),
• Date and time when the sample was taken for the test,
• Date and time when the test result was obtained,
• Result of the test,
• Information about the lab where the test was performed,
• Name of the country where the test was performed,
• Information about the issuer of the certificate and the unique identifier of the certificate.

Certificate data scope -  recovery:

• Name and surname of the certificate holder,
• Date of birth of the certificate holder,
• Disease experienced by the certificate holder (COVID-19),
• Date of the first positive test result,
• Name of the country where the test was performed,
• Information about the issuer of the certificate and the unique identifier of the certificate
• Certificate expiry date.

Use of the solution is voluntary, safe and free of charge.

EU Digital Covid Certificate for vaccination in Poland is valid for 12 months.

The certificate on recovery in Poland will be issued based on the positive PCR test result confirming infection from the 11th day of the positive result and will be valid for 180 days.

With regard to PL test result certificate it will be valid 48 hours for PCR tests and 48 hours for antigen (rapid) tests, with respect to the list of mutually recognised antigen tests prepared by the Health Security Committee.

The indicated dates can be subject to changes depending on the availability of new research findings on COVID-19, rules adopted by the Member State rules or the final shape of the regulation.

EU Digital Covid Certificates are issued regardless of the type of vaccines for COVID-19, provided that the vaccine is included on the list of vaccines approved by the European Medical Agency (all types of vaccines used in the National Vaccination Programme in Poland).

In respect to the credibility of tests, in the certificates on test results only NAAT test results (including RT-PCR test) and rapid antigen tests from the list established based on the Council recommendation 2021/C 24/01¹ shall be presented.

As regards the recovery certificate, those will be based on positive PCR tests only.

¹https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/default/files/preparedness_response/docs/covid-19_rat_common-list_en.pdf

These tests are not conducted in controlled conditions, which can influence their credibility. Certificates will be issued by health institutions, which cannot take responsibility for tests results performed at home – in such cases they cannot issue reliable certificates and expect their recognition by other EU Member States.

Certificates will be free of charge, in digital form by default. Hard copy will be available on request.

Certificates will be issued by the Centre for e-Health in Poland and made available within the  Patient Internet Account (IKP), form the 25^th of June onwards, they will also be available  in mObywatel and mojeIKP applications.

Depending on the type of certificate, a given person shall be vaccinated (for vaccination certificate), have a negative PCR or RAT test result (for test result certificate) or a PCR test result older than 11 days (for recovery certificate).

Tourists holding a EU Digital Covid Certificate would not need to undergo a quarantine or additional tests.

The certificate is available in a digital form or as a hard copy.

Data for issuing the certificate will derive from the following sources:

• For vaccination: data supplied by the e-health system (P1), to which all vaccination points report
• For test results and recovery: data supplied by EWP system (Evidence of Entry to Poland System), which thanks to integration with e-health system (P1) shares necessary data

Directly by a citizen:

• Patient Internet Account (IKP) – pacjent.gov.pl,
• mojeIKP application (from the 25^th of June)
• mObywatel application (from the 25^th of June)

In health care facilities:

• through gabinet.gov.pl application
• External systems of GDP’s facilities.

Important notice!

Foreign nationals residing in Poland and authorised to receive the certificate would either need to have a personal registration number (Pesel) in order to access Patient’s Internet Account, or alternatively, they would need to provide a Polish mobile phone number or email details at the healthcare facility in order to have the certificate sent by the means of MMS or email (coming soon). Until this solution is developed and deployed foreign nationals will be able to receive their certificates in a hard-copy at the healthcare facilities.

Issued certificates will be verified in Poland with a dedicated mobile verification application – Unijny Certyfikat Covid (EU Covid Certificate) and with a bespoke tool of the National Border Guard.  The app, available on iOS and Android platforms from the 10^th of June, will enable to read the data on QR code, which is on the certificate.

Thanks to this solution the person conducting the verification can check whether the holder of the certificate has been vaccinated against COVID-19, has a negative test result or has recovered from COVID-19. Based on that the person can go through the internal borders of the EU.

In addition, the app will verify whether the QR code was issued by a certified institution. The app Zaszczepieni will be able to download public keys for certificate verification thanks to integration of the e-health system (P1) with the European Gateway maintained by the European Commission (EU Digital Covid Certificate Gateway), which will store the public keys for certificates issued by Member States.

In line with the current project of the regulation on EU Digital Covid Certificate, certificates can be issued for persons who are not entitled to receive them, which means parents can receive a certificate for their children on their behalf, as well as guardians of dependent persons.

Certificate issued in such cases will cover the child, if the child has a negative test result, since this is the only condition for travel and issuing the certificate in case of limitations.

Certificate will be available in Patient Internet Account (IKP) already after the first dose of vaccination. This does not mean, however, that every Member State would respect such certificate after the first dose (this is an individual decision of a Member State). Certificates will be issued after each dose, with clear statement on the cycle (1/1, 1/2, 2/2) and its completion.

Certificate for a person who recovered from COVID-19 will be available after 11 days from the positive test result and will be valid for 180 days. It means that if the infection took place earlier than 6 moths ago, such certificate will not be granted and this person shall apply for the certificate on negative test result or vaccination. The time for validity of such type of certificate was estimated at the EU level, based on available research data.

Entry into operation of mutually respected certificates in the EU is planned on the  1st of July 2021.

Certificates will be issued in digital form so that they can be displayed on a smartphone or in hard copy – depending on the holder’s preference. Certificates will contain a QR code for machine reading, covering necessary and most important information and a digital signature. QR code will serve for the safe verification of the authenticity, integrity and validity of certificate.

EU Digital Covid Certificate contains a QR code with a digital signature, protecting it from forgery. During verification of the certificate the QR code is scanned and the signature is checked.

Each institution issuing the certificate (e.g. hospital, testing lab or health care provider) has their own digital key signature. All keys are stored in a protected database of each Member State.

The European Commision will create a portal through which all digital signatures on certificates can be verified in the EU. Personal data of certificate holder will not be processed on this portal, since it is not necessary to verify the digital signature.

Yes, each vaccinated person in Poland will have access to the certificate in the Patient Internet Account (IKP). There will be alternative ways to access the certificates (via MMS or email) for foreigners who do not have a PL personal registration number (pesel). Such persons would need to provide relevant contact details at the vaccination point or at the healthcare facility (coming soon). Until this solution will be deployed, such persons will receive a printout of their certificates at the healthcare facilities.

Taking into account that personal data included in the certificate is a sensitive medical data, a high level of security of data is introduced.

Certificates will contain only a limited set of necessary information. Information cannot be kept by the destination countries of a given person. During verification of the certificate only its authenticity and validity is being controlled by checking who issued and signed it. All medical data stays in the issuing country.

Yes. EU Digital Covid Certificate shall contribute to the free movement in the EU. Presenting the certificate will not be a prerequisite condition for free movement, which is one of fundamental rights in the EU. EU Digital Covid Certificate can be a proof of a test result, which is often required based on the public health restrictions.