How to obtain the COVID Vaccination Certificate

Friday 26th November 2021 – ÁLVARO MONFORT with Mike Smith

It seems that having a COVID Certificate or “COVID Passport” at hand is going to become something essential for everyday life. It is an official document that ensures that the holder has received the complete vaccination schedule (or the adapted one if they have suffered from the disease) and that, therefore, their degree of infection or probability of contagion is less harmful to the rest of the population, according to the health administration.

However, you have to differentiate between them. The COVID Certificate is a document issued by each country in which it is accredited that the person has received the complete COVID-19 vaccination. It is a document certified by the European Union with information about each person related to the virus, such as whether they have been vaccinated, if they have contracted the disease during the last six months or if they have a negative result of an approved test.

Now, how does one get the COVID certificate? Once again, the easiest option (although also the most complex for many people) is through electronic devices using the Apple Wallet applications for IOS or Google Play for Android.

To obtain it, you must first access the website set up by the Ministry of Health which allows you to download a PDF document that can either be downloaded on the phone or printed and always carried with you.

COVID Certificate in PDF (Regional Health Ministry)

• Access THIS LINK and click on [SOLICITAR CERTIFICADO COVID DIGITAL UE].
  
  You can also access this process via the GVA Salut APP on your phone. Once logged in, use the drop down menu in the top left (three horizontal lines) to select [Información] and scroll down to select [Certificado Covid Digital UE] in the bottom right. Click on [SOLICITAR CERTIFICADO COVID DIGITAL UE].
  
• Complete the form with the contact information: SIP, date of birth, SIP issue date and alphabetic code that appears. Once filled in, validate your application.
  
• The process will ask you to verify the mobile phone number by means of the last three digits of it or to modify the data of the health card in case they are out of date. In any case, the procedure will conclude by sending the applicant an SMS to their mobile phone with a confirmation code that must be entered on that same web page, in a lower box.
  
• Once everything is done and validated, the PDF document with the COVID Certificate will be generated.

UK Residents visiting Spain

From Wednesday 1st December 2021, all UK residents over the age of 12 travelling to Spain must provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 at least 14 days prior to arrival in Spain (the date(s) of vaccination must be specified) with a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organisation. The good news is that Spain will accept the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination certification, although if you are travelling with a printed PDF proof of vaccination status, it must date from November 1st to ensure that the certificate can be scanned successfully.

If you want to check if your certificate will be valid, you can do so by downloading the APP CovidCheck.lu from Google Play (Android) or Apple Store (iOS), the application that will be used by bars and restaurants in the Comunidad Valenciana to check for valid and authentic certification.

UK resident David Kennedy has kindly provided us with the following procedure:

First, I fired up my NHS App to generate a new QR code. To do that, go to the “Get your NHS COVID Pass” section, select “Travel”. You then have the  following 3 options:

• Download a PDF copy or
• Receive an offline copy by email
• View Covid-19 records

Any of the above options regenerate a new QR code valid for 30 days.
I chose to receive an email, which I opened on my computer desktop computer (the green option, saved me printing anything out).  You could also send the email to a friend’s phone so that you can still “read” the QR code using two mobile phones if you don’t have a computer monitor or a printer handy.

I went back to the CovidCheck.lu APP and pressed on [Scan a certificate]. It then lists the data privacy issues and says you can scan the QR code in paper format or on a mobile device (they need to add to that you can scan on a computer monitor too). Press [Next].

You hold your phone over the QR code. The APP automatically reads it when the reader is completely aligned over the code. If your QR Code is valid, it show a big white tick on a green background

Finally, change country ( The default is Luxembourg). Click on the [Change Country] button, select Spain and, if your QR code is still valid for Spain Covid Rules then the white tick and green background will remain and it will then show the Spanish Flag, your surname and forename.

Job done, you get to go to the restaurant/bar tonight!