POINTERS OF THE DEVELOPMENT
1. EU Digital Certificate
The EU Digital Covid Certificate, which has been created to ensure that restrictions currently in place can be lifted in a coordinated manner, is digital proof that a person has either been vaccinated against Covid-19, or received a negative test result, or recovered from the viral infection. The document is valid across all EU countries.
2. Contents of Certificate
The certificate includes information such as name, date of birth, date of issuance, the name of the vaccine or the details of the negative test result or recovery from Covid-19. The certificate contains a digital signature which is verified when the QR code is scanned. Each issuing body has its own digital signature key, all of which are stored in a secure database in each country.
3. Certificate Issuance Authorities
National authorities are in charge of the programme and the document can be issued by test centres or health authorities, or directly via an eHealth portal. The certificate has a QR code that can be scanned and it is available in both digital and paper formats.
4. About Green Pass & Right of Free Travel
The European Commission has designed a gateway through which all the signatures can be verified across the EU.
The “green pass” is expected to ease travel restrictions for people travelling to EU countries. According to the official EU website, the certificate holder should “in principle be exempted from free movement restrictions” and “Member States should refrain from imposing additional travel restrictions on the holders of an EU Digital COVID Certificate unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health”.
The EU website states that the certificate will not be a “pre-condition to free movement, which is a fundamental right in the EU”. However, those who do not possess the certificate will be subject to the usual travel restrictions and quarantine rules which are in effect in every country.
5. Vaccines under Green Pass
Yesterday, nine European countries reportedly recognised the Covishield vaccine, which is produced by the Serum Institue of India and is the most-used brand in the country. The development came on the same day when the European Union started its green pass, which allows anyone who is fully vaccinated with any of the five accepted vaccines—Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, and the AstraZeneca shot manufactured and sold in Europe as Vaxzervria—to travel within the bloc.
Photo by Caspar Rae on Unsplash
