Six autonomous communities have already implemented the EU Covid Certificate
In Catalonia it is not yet available but the Catalan Ministry of Health is already working to implement it
MadridThe EU Covid Certificate is already a reality. Officially, it will not be operational in all EU states until July 1st, but the platform is already operational so that member states that want to move forward, can implement the certificate before the official launch date. In Spain, it will be managed by the autonomous communities and some have already put it into operation this Monday: Valencian Community, Aragon, Navarra, Andalusia, Castilla-la Mancha and Extremadura. It will be compulsory for all member states and all autonomous communities to issue it on July 1st.
"From today, Spain will begin to issue the European digital certificate to citizens who request it. And Spain will also recognize the digital certificates of other European Union countries that issue them", said the Secretary General for Digital Health of the Ministry of Health, Alfredo González. There are seven other member states that have also implemented it: Germany, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Denmark.
In Catalonia, the Generalitat has not yet set a date to start issuing the certificate, but health sources explain that "they are working on its implementation" and will soon provide information about it. The same sources stress that the certificate is still pending approval of its regulation by the European Parliament. The Catalan Ministry of Health admits that the written regulations will not be final until they are voted in by the European Parliament. However, according to the Spanish government, this does not prevent it from being released. In Catalonia, when it is up and running, it will be distributed through La Meva Salut.
Travelling with the Covid Certificate
The certificate, which will be completely free, will facilitate travel between countries in the Schengen area. It will include personal information about the traveler related to covid: either the certificate of vaccination -when at least 14 days have passed since the completion guideline-, or the certificate of recovery -if you have passed the disease in the last six months and the last negative PCR is taken from at least the previous 11 days- or a negative diagnostic test, which can be either a PCR or an antigen test.
Without the digital certificate it will be possible to travel to other countries, but, as until now, it will be necessary to have one of the three documents. Even so, the Spanish government warns that travelers who have the Covid EU Certificate will pass the controls more quickly. "Without a digital certificate, the entry into the countries will be slower. With the certificate, the entry will be more agile, and queues and additional controls will be avoided," Gonzalez stressed.
Record vaccination figures
On the other hand, vaccination in Spain is setting records. The Ministry of Health has announced that this weekend more than 1.2 million doses of vaccines have been administered throughout the country. It is the highest figure since vaccination began. Right now, more than 11 million people are already immunized following the full guideline and more than 30 million have received at least one dose. "These are very important figures. We are approaching the goal of 70% of the population being immunized during the summer," stressed the director of the Center for Coordination of Alerts and Health Emergencies (CAES), Fernando Simon, on Monday.
Now that summer is approaching, some regional governments, such as those of Andalusia and Cantabria, have been open to vaccinate Spaniards who spend their holidays in another community if, for example, a person gets the second dose when they are displaced. But the issue is controversial, especially among communities like the Balearic Islands, which receive an avalanche of visitors during the summer months. The Balearic government fears it will not have enough doses, given that the distribution of vaccines is made taking into account the population living in that territory.
The director of CAES has assured that he knows that "there is the possibility" of vaccination in a different autonomous community but also stressed that "nothing happens" if a second dose is administrated a few days after the due date. "The communities give a margin of flexibility to change the appointment," he stressed. In any case, the possibility of vaccination in another community will be discussed at the inter-regional meeting on Wednesday.
