As of today, June 17, the issue of the European Union Covid-19 Digital Certificate is available on the SNS 24 website. As of July 1, all 27 Member States have to apply these certificates — until then, their application is still in the testing phase, in order to be fully operational. The purpose of this European Regulation calls for Member States to refrain from imposing additional travel restrictions, such as tests or quarantines, on citizens holding a valid EU COVID Digital Certificate, unless they are proportionate and necessary to safeguard public health.
But what is this certificate?
The Certificate contains relevant information about vaccination, testing or recovery and is issued in digital format. However, it may not exempt the respective holders from complying with additional public health measures in the destination country in the event of a worsening of the epidemiological situation.
Is the issue free?
The EU COVID Digital Certificate will be free and issued in Portuguese and English.
Who can apply? What do I need to order?
At this stage, requested by national and foreign citizens, residing in Portugal and who are holders of the National Health Service User number.
Will it be on paper or do I need a mobile app?
The digital version can be stored on a mobile device, but its holders have the possibility to print it in digital format.
Both versions will have a QR code that contains essential information, as well as a digital signature, to guarantee the authenticity of the certificate.
Three types of EU COVID Digital Certificate are foreseen:
a. Vaccination certificate – Issued after the administration of each dose of vaccines against COVID-19 approved in the European Union, stating whether or not the person has the complete vaccination schedule.
b. Test certificate – Issued after notification in the National Epidemiological Surveillance System (SINAVE) of a negative result in molecular tests (PCR) for 72 hours from the date and time of collection.
c. Recovery certificate - Issued between 11 and 180 days after a laboratory test that confirmed the diagnosis of infection by SARS-CoV-2, to people with the "cured" status on the Trace-COVID-19 platform, pursuant to Standard 004 /2020 of the DGS.
It will be possible to use the EU COVID Digital Certificate in all Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
See Guidance aqui.
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