Filenews 28 May 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
Depending on the country of destination, the obligations of citizens planning to travel between 1 July and the implementation of the European Green Pass in the countries of the European Union.
The majority of States accept both vaccination cards at the entrance gates when they carry the necessary insignia and certificates with a negative examination result for the coronavirus.
In some cases, it is accepted and proof that the person recovered from the coronavirus a period of time, predetermined by each country.
Some states require molecular testing, others accept both molecular and rapid diagnostic tests.
For this reason, the Ministry of Health recommends that citizens be informed when planning their trip, whatever country they intend to visit in order to avoid any inconvenience afterwards.
With regard to citizens who are fully vaccinated and wish to travel by presenting a vaccination certificate, the Deputy Minister of Research and Innovation, Kyriakos Kokkinos, said that it would be possible to print a certificate bearing the stamp of the Ministry of Health and the signature of the Director General, Christina Giannakis, adding that relevant announcements are expected in the coming days.
In a statement, Mr Kokkinos said that "this certificate will be given directly to those who receive the second dose and, for those who have already completed their vaccination, a database will be set up , which is ongoing".
"From the database", according to the Deputy Minister of Research and Innovation, "citizens will be able to issue their certificate" while, as he said, "due to the problems created in countries such as Greece, personal information will be listed in English and Greek, and the certificate will bear (electronically) the ministry's stamp and the signature of the Ministry's DG".
As for people who have only received the first dose of their vaccine and want to travel, he said that "clarification will be given in the next period."
In the meantime, and as reported by the "F", the Ministry of Health is promoting the necessary procedures for each province to operate points for issuing certificates with the original stamp of the Ministry of Health, for travel purposes until the implementation of the European "Green Pass" on the first of July.
With regard to the 'Green Pass', according to the latest announcements from the European Union, its official name will be 'EU Digital COVID certificate', having been slightly modified from the original 'Digital Green Certificate'.
Member States should accept vaccination certificates issued in other Member States for persons vaccinated with a vaccine approved for use in the EU by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), whose list currently contains Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines with the right but for the recognition of vaccines approved by other competent regulatory authorities and the World Health Organisation.
In addition to the vaccination certificate, the "green passport" includes a negative molecular or rapid examination certificate as well as confirmation that the person has recovered from the coronavirus.
