The Green Digital Vaccination Certificate (Certificado Verde Digital de Vacunación) will facilitate mobility within the European Union, guarantee the protection of public health and allow a safe return to economic activity progressively.
This was highlighted at a press conference by the Secretary General for Digital Health, Information and Innovation of the National Health System, Alfredo González, who explained that the Government of Spain and the Autonomous Communities have already begun to work on the implementation of the Green Certificate Digital in Spain to meet the established deadlines.
The intention of the Government is to have the Digital Green Certificate implemented in June, so that it can be operational by the end of that month and be fully operational for the summer campaign.
In this sense, it should be noted that Spain has several information systems that favour for implementation -REGVACU, SERLAB, Spain Travel Health (SpTH) -.
“A new phase of negotiation with the European Parliament is now beginning with the horizon of being able to have the regulation approved throughout the next month of June,” he explained.
Characteristics of the Digital Green Certificate
Based on full respect for the current data protection regulations and promptly informing the Spanish Data Protection Agency, the Green Digital Certificate has as its main characteristics its simplicity and interoperability for the entire European Union, as well as its free and universal nature.
It will generate a one-person digital certificate, using a QR code, which will provide information on whether the person who carries it has been vaccinated against COVID-19, has a negative diagnostic test result and proof that he has recovered from the disease.
The Digital Green Certificate will facilitate free movement in the EU, “but will not limit mobility” to those who do not have it and” will respect in any case, data protection, security and privacy”, remarked the secretary general of Digital Health, Alfredo González.
“It is not a passport, it is not a travel document and it is not a requirement to travel,” but it is “a mechanism that facilitates mobility,” emphasized the Secretary General of Digital Health, Information and Innovation of the SNS, time that has stressed that the possibility of extending the model to compatible certificates issued by third countries is foreseen.
Establishment in Spain
It is a process of “great complexity that requires full coordination like the one that is already taking place”, between the Ministry of Health and the Autonomous Communities and that has the involvement of the ministries of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda and other agents such as airlines.
The Autonomous Communities will be in charge of issuing, sealing and delivering the certificates in electronic format (QR Wallet, PDF with QR) or on paper. The Ministry will also issue certificates in assessed cases, in addition to offering the necessary support and coordinating and technically supporting the Autonomous Communities. Likewise, laboratories must also participate, which will be in charge of providing information so that certificates can be issued.
Meetings with all the Autonomous Communities and bilateral sessions with all of them are planned to have the systems ready within the established deadlines. Likewise, the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System will be promptly informed of the progress of the project, both at the EU level and on its deployment in Spain.
The European Commission presented the Digital Green Certificate model on March 17 and, since then, the Member States have been working intensively on the legal and technical aspects of the model.
The regulation is currently being processed in the European institutions, with the anticipation that it can be approved during the month of June and that the Certificate can be operational by the end of that month.
Certificates of people traveling to Spain
Regarding the validation and acceptance of certificates of people traveling to Spain, the main responsibility will be assumed by the Ministry of Health, through External Health, for which the SPTH (Spain Travel Health) system will evolve.
At the end of the process, the traveller will be able to opt for the traditional system (SpTH implemented in June 2020) or the new one (SPTH +), providing the Digital Green Certificate in said application. In the latter case, check-in will be facilitated on arrival and transit will be much faster and easier for the traveller, while maintaining maximum health security.
