14:10 20.08.2021

EC decision on mutual recognition of COVID certificates of Ukraine, EU comes into force

3 min read
EC decision on mutual recognition of COVID certificates of Ukraine, EU comes into force

The decision of the European Commission (EC) on the equivalence of the digital COVID certificates of the EU and Ukraine came into force on Friday, August 20, said Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov during a press briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

"Today is a historic moment for digital Ukraine, because we became one of the first countries in the world to join the EU's single digital market in the direction of COVID certificates. Today at 10:00 we joined the EU by technical means, after we had published the corresponding decision. We will be able to receive citizens of EU countries, and after updating the version of the Diia application, Ukrainians will be able to generate a certificate and travel to European countries," he said.

Fedorov stressed that updating the application can take from several hours to several days.

According to him, two certificates will be formed in Diia: for travel abroad and domestic one. Problems with the formation of a certificate may arise if the doctor did not enter the data on the second dose of the vaccine or if there is no data on vaccination at all.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation is actively working to launch certificates with data on negative PCR testing or previous illness. Also, in the near future, it is planned to launch the ability to generate certificates on the Diia portal.

Health Minister Viktor Liashko, in turn, stressed that the International Vaccination Certificate is issued if the vaccine is recommended by WHO. All vaccines used in Ukraine are included in this list.

"This would not have been possible if there had not been systemic changes in the health care sector, in particular if the electronic health care system had not been launched. Thanks to the fact that we have the ability to enter all data about a person's medical condition through medical information systems, thanks to the fact that we have the Ministry of Digital Transformation, we have combined the two systems and received COVID certificates. They include data on vaccination, laboratory testing by PCR and whether a person has had COVID-19," Liashko added.

At the same time, the minister noted that the validity period of the certificate is 180 days, the issue of its extension is still being studied.

"We are currently studying this issue with the World Health Organization. WHO does not yet recommend the introduction of the third dose of the vaccine. We will make a decision whether the certificates will be extended to 12 months in the near future," he said.

Liashko added that in order to avoid falsification of certificates, the Ministry of Health has prepared a bill on criminal liability for falsifying certificates of vaccination against especially dangerous infectious diseases, which will soon be presented at a government meeting.

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