The United Kingdom’s NHS Covid pass will be connected with the European Union’s digital Covid certificate, allowing British travellers to prove their vaccination status across the bloc.
On Thursday, the European Commission announced that the British vaccination pass was the equivalent to its own certificate and could therefore be officially used to gain entry to restaurants, cafes and other public settings where someone needs to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19.
By connecting the two systems, pass holders will be able to scan their QR code enabled certificate in any country that uses the EU Digital COVID Certificate. This should also make crossing international borders significantly easier.
As well as being the standard digital Covid certificate across all EU member states, the system has also been adopted by 18 non-EU countries including Switzerland, Israel and Turkey. Armenia was also accepted into the programme on the same day as the UK.
“Safer travel is a reality thanks to the EU Digital COVID Certificate, which is now the leading global standard: 45 countries in four continents are connected to the system and more will follow in the coming weeks and months,” commented the EC’s Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders.
“We are open to other countries to join our system,” she continued.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for Europe’s digital covid pass to become the global standard for vaccination certification and as many as 60 countries are already looking to join the programme.
The digital Covid pass works through a QR code which is normally provided via a smartphone app but can also be printed on a paper certificate. A secure and encrypted digital gateway authenticates certificates between issuers via an app that reads the QR code.
As well as vaccination status, the system can also be used to prove the status of a recent test or acquired immunity from a recent infection.
After Brexit, the British government declined to initially participate in the European Commission’s digital covid pass programme and decided to develop its own certificate through the National Health Service.
Around 16 million people have signed up to the NHS app where the certificate can be obtained, although paper versions can also be requested. A record number of people signed up for the app when the digital Covid certificate was launched in May but the pass is not required domestically.
